Ranger's Oath - Part One
by Ranger's Oath
Summary: When a Pokemon Ranger joins the Ranger Union, they swear an oath of non-violence to uphold the values of peace and justice. This is a story about when those values are challenged, and to what extent Rangers will go to protect them.
1. Hello, My Name is Failure

Hi. My name is Lunick Kazuki, and I'm a professional failure.

Well, no, I'm not _professional,_ but I might as well be. Everyone else seems to think so, at least. Every time I go out on a mission with my leader, Spenser, I can see it in his eyes—I'm not good enough. I don't spin the styler the right way. I'm not making the right connection with the target pokémon. But that was a long time ago. He hasn't taken me out on a field mission in months. He's given up on me.

At least I have Murph. We grew up together, joined the rangers together, and failed spectacularly together. He at least got a partner pokémon. He spent so much time playing the capture game just outside of town that he befriended a rare slowpoke. I've tried, but no Pokémon really sees eye-to-eye with me. Still, Murph is hardly an avid ranger. He's incredibly sluggish, much like his partner. We always joke that slowpoke is the faster of the two, but to be honest that is a sharp little Pokémon. Next to Murph, I seem at least adequate.

It had been three years since I joined the rangers when the letters began to arrive. A girl from a faraway land dreamed of becoming a ranger, and she expressed her love of pokémon through seven letters. Spenser let me read them—he probably thought I might get some ideas from them—and let me tell you, she seemed like the perfect prospect for a ranger. Her letters painted her as a flawless, Pokémon-loving angel. That's why I was so worried the day she was set to arrive. With her in the picture I would fade out of Spenser's view for good.

When I saw Spenser's fearow descending outside the ranger base with the new girl onboard I knew I was about to be replaced. Still, I rushed outside with Murph to meet her. I knew she was from some faraway place, but I never expected anything like her. She was tall, and filled out the ranger uniform well. She pulled her silvery-blue hair back in a high ponytail with wisps of it sticking out here and there. But most striking about her was her eyes. They were a bright, burning red that made me think she already knew everything about me. I was so stunned by her eyes that I barely noticed a plusle dash off into the woods.

"Oh, Lunick! You scared it off!" Spenser scolded.

"W-what?" I stuttered, still stunned by the girl's eyes and confused about why there was a plusle way out in the hicksville that is Ringtown.

"Ah, nevermind. It's probably just scared of the new environment. It'll come back later and we can return it to its natural habitat," Spenser sighed. "Solana, this is Murph and Lunick. They're rookie rangers too."

Rookie rangers. I'd been there, training, for three years! Most rangers are considered competent after a few months. This girl just got there, and I'm on her level. He thinks that little of me. This can't possibly get worse.

"Sorry we're late. There was a bit of a situation in Fall City. I gave Solana her styler and she pulled off her first capture impressively. I got to see her potential as a ranger first-hand. She's off to great start."

And she's already on his good side. She hasn't been here a day, and she's 'off to a great start'. _Now_ it can't get any worse.

"In fact I thought she did so well that I canceled her certification test and certified her as a ranger on the spot!"

Smack! Rock bottom. And the whole time Spenser was talking, he had a smile on his face. He was so proud of this new ranger that nothing else mattered. Especially not me.

As Spenser led us back inside the ranger base, Murph showed Solana the applications on the styler and I trudged in behind them. Murph and Solana seemed to be really hitting it off, leaving me behind _again_. In retrospect, it was nice that Murph was being his regular cheerful self and Solana was feeling comfortable in her new home—I was just feeling particularly down. We all stood at attention and Spenser welcomed Solana as a member of the Ringtown base. He made several quips about how she had a mountain of tasks to overcome and how she looked determined to do it. He said that skill level aside, she's a real ranger in spirit—right in front of Murph and me. This kind of behavior happened so frequently that we both just accepted it as a fact of life. He never seemed to mind hearing others praised in front of him, but I did. Spenser never said anything so grandiose to me—not even when I was first starting and he _didn't_ hate me.

To top off the speech, the three of us did our little ranger poses. Solana swished her styler antenna through the air, Murph threw his up, spun around and caught it. (He would later recount the action as "the most coordinated thing he'd ever done.") And me? I tried to take my styler out of my holster and dropped it on the ground. In an attempt to make up for it, I picked it up, held it over my head and softly moaned, "Ta-da!"

And then, to my surprise, Solana laughed. It wasn't surprising that she laughed—it was supposed to be funny. But I was more taken aback that she had noticed me at all. I smiled back, happier than I had felt for a while. But that feeling disappeared when I glanced over to Spenser and saw his glare of disapproval.

"Trouble! There's trouble! It's a crisis! Help, help, help!" We turned to the door and saw Larry, a Ringtown resident, running in. I stifled the urge to roll my eyes. There was _never_ any trouble in Ringtown. And hearing this coming from Larry, I knew that there was absolutely nothing to worry about.

Larry shoved Murph and me out of the way and ran right up to Spenser, babbling about how his Pokémon had run off into Lyra forest again. He pushed us so hard that I had to prevent myself from falling right on top of Solana—so instead I fell on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Solana asked, helping me up.

"Yeah, it's just Larry being Larry," I muttered. "His pokémon always runs away. I can only wonder why." Solana softly giggled again.

"This sounds like a perfect mission for Solana," Spenser said, turning to us. "Enter Lyra forest and capture Larry's escaped Pokémon. That's your first mission."

"Whoa, whoa, what?" Larry exclaimed. "Leader, you've got to be joking! Are you sure it's going to be okay asking this rookie to handle this mission?"

"There's nothing to be worried about. Solana is very talented," Spenser replied. He turned to Solana. "The Lyra forest is just outside Ringtown. I'll meet you there." He brushed past us and walked out the door. Once in Spenser's absence, Larry turned to Solana with a sneer.

"Well, isn't this just dandy," Larry scoffed. "I asked the leader because he's the most trustworthy ranger here. But look at this rookie. A less trustworthy face I've yet to see." And as he turned his back and walked out the door, he muttered, "Don't screw this up, girl."

Once Larry was gone, there was a beat of silence. I could feel Solana's uncertainty, so I spoke up.

"Don't let him get to you," I said cheerfully. "He can say some rotten things, but he never really means it. It's just Larry being Larry."

"Yeah! This will be easy for a great ranger like you!" Murph chimed in. "I can't count how many times I've had to go into the forest after his Pokémon." Solana looked at the both of us and smiled.

"Thanks, guys," she said. She started to walk out the door, so I wished her luck.

Oddly, I felt good. I thought I wasn't going to like this girl—I knew she was going to replace me. But when I met her, I realized that she's very nice, almost a little shy. Maybe it was because it had been so long since I had received kindness from someone other than Murph, but I had genuine hope that there was potential for a friendship. I was so happy that I couldn't help but run after her to see her first mission.

By the time I got there, Spenser was already briefing Solana on the mission. I stayed back with Larry and watched as Spenser went with Solana to look for the Pokémon. She collected a couple of wild Pokémon and took them back to Larry, who immediately scolded her for not catching the right one. She looked to me, using her eyes to plead for help. Just then I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A taillow was fluttering around in a bush—Larry's taillow. I gestured to it with a shake of the head, and she immediately went at it. She captured it without a problem and brought it back to Larry. He congratulated Solana on a job well done and left, fawning over his pokémon. Just a standard, run-of-the-mill chore.

"Congratulations, Solana. You've completed your first mission! You have now joined the ranks of Pokémon rangers in name and in deed," Spenser said to Solana. As he continued to praise her on a job well done, I let my eyes wander and noticed an orange flicker from within the forest, accompanied by black clouds.

"Leader!" I cried, pointing to the trees. He looked over and saw the rapidly spreading fire.

"You two! Come with me!" he shouted, motioning for the two of us to follow him. We ran off into the forest to find a pair of trees burning. Leaves crackled and hissed as they curled up and turned to ash. Branches fell, Pokémon skittered away in a panic, and I could feel the heat from the flames from several yards away. The trees were isolated and unlikely to spread into a full-blown forest fire, but Spenser decided it would be wise to extinguish them anyway, anr to show Solana how to use a Pokémon's power in the field. Spenser sent me off to find a water Pokémon while he explained to Solana about what a target clear was and something about styler hardware mechanics. Lyra forest is known for its small, peaceful pokémon, so all I could find was a couple of docile mudkips to fight the fire. When Spenser saw my two tiny Pokémon, he rolled his eyes and sighed before showing Solana what to do. He paid no attention to me as he extinguished the fires and released the Pokémon back into the wild.

When the danger was gone, we returned to town. Spenser was silent and walked ahead, but Solana hung back to talk with me.

"Hey, thanks for the help back there," she said in a hushed voice so Spenser wouldn't hear.

"No problem," I replied.

"I watched you capture those Pokémon. You're really good."

I blushed. "T-thanks."

"Solana, Lunick," Spenser said, turning around to look at us. How about you two patrol around town until a new mission shows up? It's been a bit slow lately, so I'm sure you two can handle it."

"Yes, sir!" we both replied in unison. He nodded and sauntered back to the ranger base. Solana and I went off in the other direction. Once we were out of his earshot, Solana spoke up again.

"He doesn't like you very much, does he?" she asked.

"Is it that obvious?" I said with a chuckle.

"But why?"

"I guess I'm just not good enough for him. I try so hard, but he never gives me a chance to prove myself."

"That's too bad. I'm sure you'd be an awesome ranger is he ever gave you the chance." She swayed gently, bumping her shoulder against mine. I blushed again. I knew she was fated to be my replacement, but I really did enjoy her company.

We were both quiet for a bit, enjoying the peace and quiet. Ringtown was a place that practically emanated innocence. The people were happy and naïve, the Pokémon small and harmless. It was everything a ranger nation was supposed to stand for—peace and equality, upheld by the rangers. I could tell Solana was trying to take it all in. While there wasn't much to my hometown, she seemed fascinated with every last detail. I noticed some of the residents peering at us. Glancing at Solana and her striking appearance, I noticed how much she stood out here.

"So, um," I mumbled, starting the conversation again. "Where did you say you were from?"

"It's a place called Johto."

"Never heard of it."

"It's very different from here. There are no rangers, just trainers who-" but she was cut off by a sharp Pokémon cry coming from the center of town. We rushed there to find Larry's maniac taillow and the plusle from before, battling violently. Larry was there, hysterically trying to calm them down. Not only was he failing at that, his screeching seemed to be making it worse.

"Come on!" I cried, running at the fight.

"That taillow sure is temperamental," Solana said through her teeth.

"Yeah, well, they deserve each other," I quipped. The taillow was extremely agitated and was beating the plusle mercilessly and seemingly without provocation. "Solana! Calm down the plusle. I'll take care of taillow." But before I could finish my sentence, plusle let loose a blast of electricity that stunned taillow into paralysis. It made my job a lot easier to do, and Solana had no problem taking care of the plusle.

Once the uproar had died down, Larry rushed up to me and grabbed his taillow, babbling about how I hurt it and how I was a bad ranger. I had learned to ignore Larry years before, so I glanced at Solana to see how she was doing. The plusle had calmed down and had jumped into her arms, cuddling her affectionately. It was too cute to not smile. Just then, Spenser came running at us out of the ranger base.

"What happened?" he shouted.

"I'll tell you what happened!" Larry exclaimed. "That plusle was picking on my darling taillow, so it stood up for itself. And then _this boy_ allowed it to shock my poor baby until it couldn't move."

"Lunick? I didn't think you knew how to use poké assists," Spencer said, looking at me. Of course I knew how to use poké assists. It was one of the first things he had taught me. He couldn't even remember that.

"I'm sorry, leader!" Solana said, jumping to her feet with the plusle still in her arms. "I was in charge of capturing the plusle and couldn't stop it in time. It's my fault." But Spenser didn't seem angry in the least.

"Is this the plusle from Fall City?" he asked. Solana nodded. "I can tell it's taken a liking to you. You don't have a partner pokémon yet, do you?"

 _Oh no_ I thought. _He wouldn't. Not yet._

"I think this plusle would make a perfect partner for you, Solana," he said, to my dismay.

"You think so?" she asked, looking at the cheerful pokémon in her arms.

"I guarantee it!" Spencer assured. Solana was ecstatic. She hugged the plusle, smiled at Spenser, and grinned at me. I forced a smile in return. I had been there for three years and had yet to get a partner pokémon approved. She got hers on the first day.

You know that 'rock bottom' thing I was talking about a while ago? I don't believe it exists anymore.


	2. Genesis

Back at base, all of the other rangers were glad to see Solana had already gotten her partner pokémon. They were so preoccupied that they didn't notice an old man hobble into ranger base until he spoke up.

"Oh, confound it all! I became disoriented in that wretched Lyra forest yet again!"

"Professor Hastings! It's great to see you!" Spenser exclaimed, rushing to the door to help him inside.

"Spenser, long time, no see! I trust you've been well?" the man answered. "Oh, and who is this unfamiliar face? Is this the new ranger you've been telling me about?"

"Yes, Professor. This is Solana, the new rookie." They shook hands. "Also, professor, I wanted to talk to you about the super styler you left with us…"

"Oh, yes, that. I had a brilliant idea, and I couldn't wait to share it with you, so I came all the way from Fall City by foot. Here, we'll discuss it upstairs."

"Yes, of course," Spencer replied. He turned to Solana, Murph, and me. "Wait here. I'll be back in a moment." Spenser and Professor Hastings scooted into the elevator and began to chatter in low voices before the doors even closed.

"The super what?" Solana asked, looking at us. Murph and I shrugged. I had never heard of the thing, but it sounded important.

"They keep us in the dark about anything important," Murph replied.

"So that means most things," I added. Solana smiled.

"So Spencer doesn't really like either of you, does he?"

"No," Murph scoffed. "Although, I think it's more pity towards me. Lunick is actually competent, Spencer just _hates_ him."

"Murph-"

"Don't try to deny it. I know you're much better than me. You may get 'patrol the town until it gets dark' grunt work, but I get 'sort papers' and 'clean the bathrooms' grunt work. Maybe Spencer is afraid I'll hurt myself." He laughed. "Though, honestly, he's probably right.

We chatted lightheartedly until they returned back downstairs. Spenser called attention and we all lined up.

"Okay, rangers, this is what is going to happen. Murph, you are going to patrol around town. I'm going to the capture game outside of town with Solana to train. Lunick will escort the professor back to Fall City. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" we all replied. I was less than enthralled. Murph and I get the regular, monotonous jobs while Solana gets one-on-one personal training with the leader? I felt even lower than I did before. I glanced at Solana and she gave me a look of sympathy.

We all grabbed a bite to eat and headed into town together. It was a mild day, and the sun warmed our faces. The breeze was sweet with the smell of flowers. The three of us walking together—it felt right. I had only known Solana for a few hours, but we already felt close. Being with a group of friends was a happy, high feeling that I rarely experienced.

"Oh boy! Can you believe it?" Murph exclaimed with insincere enthusiasm. "I get to patrol the town! How exciting! They actually let me out of the building! What adventures do you think I'll have? Maybe, um, _nothing?_ "

"Nah, couldn't be. Nothing happened yesterday," I replied, matching his tone to continue the banter.

"Or the day before that."

"Or last week."

"Or ever."

"For our entire lives." Solana was struggling to keep in the giggles. It felt good to see her laugh, like I had accomplished something, _anything_ of worth, even if it was just making someone smile. It was bittersweet when we had to part. Solana was on her way to becoming one of the top rangers of our generation, while I was escorting a grumpy old man through the woods.

I knew the paths of Lyra forest by heart. I had played in the forest with Murph since before I could remember. I knew enough shortcuts that we could've made it to Krokka tunnel in record time, but the professor insisted on taking the main road. Of course there were several roadblocks and various Pokémon on the road that kept distracting the professor and delaying our trip. His jaw was unhinged the whole time, spewing endless factoids and advice for being a better ranger, like I hadn't been doing this for three years already. _Yes_ , I know what a combusken is. _Yes_ , I did a target clear this morning. _Yes_ , I know how to recharge my styler with an electric Pokémon, I'm not a child, Arceus Christ would you shut up! It felt like hours had passed by the time we got to the caves.

Krokka tunnel had a somewhat dangerous feel to it. Rickety wooden beams held up the walls, and daunting pokémon scuttled around in the shadows. But as a ranger, I naturally wasn't afraid. I had been down this way many times before, and I knew all the twists and turns. But, of course, Professor Hastings saw a rare pokémon and rushed ahead, chattering the whole time. I stayed back a ways and rested for a bit, which was my first mistake.

As the ground began to shake, a feeling of dread rose in me. Pokémon ran away in fear as the ceiling fell in with a deafening thunder. I reeled back to dodge the falling rocks, scraping my elbows on the rough ground. When the dust settled, there was a mountain of rocks separating me from the professor.

"Professor! Are you alright?" I called over the pile of rocks, praying he could hear me.

"Who are you people? Stay away from me!" I heard him shouting.

"Grab him!"

"Find the super styler!"

Even from the other side of a mound of rocks, I knew professor Hastings was in trouble. I could hear the unseen assailants beating him and the professor crying for help. Panicking, I looked for another way around. I saw a small, wooden fence blocking a side cave — probably a way around. Normally, you might've needed to use a weak target clear to get through it, but I instead jumped over/knocked it down in my rush. Sprinting through the passageways, I could hear the fight echoing through the tunnels and knew I was going in the right direction.

I finally emerged on the other side of the collapsed ceiling to in time to see two menacingly dressed people fleeing the scene. I only got a glimpse of them, but they seemed to have dark, matching uniforms. One held the professor's package in their arms, and they ran off towards Fall City, leaving the bloodied body of Professor Hastings on the ground.

"Hey! Stop!" I shouted, running after them.

"Oh, look! A little ranger!" one of them laughed.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered," the other replied.

They fished a remote out of their pocket and pressed a button on it. The ground began to shake again, and I stopped. _The professor! What if the rocks fall on him?_ I turned around and ran back, and just in time. The rocks were actually situated directly over me, and if I hadn't run for the professor I would've been crushed. I dove to the ground as rocks fell around me, covering my head and squeezing my eyes shut. Finally, the rumbling stopped and rocks stopped falling.

"Lunick? Where are you?" Professor Hastings coughed weakly. I looked up. It was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing. The horror of being buried alive and having limited oxygen struck me, and I knew this was no time to be paralyzed with fear.

"Professor, stay where you are!" I called, struggling to keep my voice from cracking. I pulled my styler out of my pocket and flipped the capture top out, using the glow to see. The air was earthy and heavy with dust, making it even darker than usual. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust before I saw the huddled body of the professor, a little dusty, but not crushed underneath any rocks. I rushed to him to see what kind of a condition he was in, but then I heard a tremendous, earth-shaking roar. I aimed the light towards the noise to reveal a gigantic rhydon crawling down the pile of rocks.

"The cave-in must've agitated it!" Professor Hastings cried. "Quick, calm it down!"

For the record, up to that point, I had only ever captured tiny pokémon in Lyra forest. This monster took up a greater part of the entire cavern that we were trapped in. I made a timid attempt at drawing a circle around the beast, but it destroyed the capture line immediately. I had no pokémon with me to use a poké assist. So I did the thing rangers do best; I communicated my feelings to it. It's not uncommon for a ranger to have an internal dialogue with a Pokémon while they are capturing it. Whether or not it had any effect was still in question, but it made me feel like I was making a better connection.

 _Rhydon, listen._ I drew loop around it. It snapped at the capture line and I scribbled it away. _I know you're scared. I'm pretty freaked out too._ I drew another loop. The pokémon glared at me, growling warily. _Those people took something important, and they hurt my friend. We're both trapped, so we need to work together to get out of here._ I drew a few more lines as it growled its disapproval. _Please. I need your help._

Capture complete.

The rhydon made short work of the mound of rocks before it scrambled back into the cave. I helped the professor up and had him lean against me as we finished the journey to Fall City. But before we exited the cave, I saw the rhydon look back at me with what seemed like a smile and a surprising amount of understanding.

 _Thank you, rhydon._


	3. Crime and Punishment

I practically dragged Professor Hastings the rest of the way to Fall City. His condition seemed to be getting worse, and I knew no way of helping him. Fortunately, the Fall City ranger base was right next to the entrance of the city, so I didn't have to go far to make it inside.

"Help!" I called the moment I stumbled in the door. Within seconds, every ranger in the base was upon us, caring for the professor. I crumpled to the ground, resting on my knees for a minute. It didn't last long, though, because another ranger yanked me to my feet by the front of my shirt and pushed me against the wall.

"What happened?" she snapped aggressively. She had long, curly blonde hair and had decorated her uniform with a few of her own accessories. With the way she stood and talked, I could tell she was a big shot here.

"We were ambushed," I replied.

"By whom?" She put her hands on her hips.

"I don't know- but we got separated and by the time I got there-"

"And they just beat him up? That's all?"

"Ah… no." I looked down at my feet. I was in a whole mess of trouble.

"What else?"

"They got away with the… super styler."

"Oh my god," the girl exclaimed, turning away. Other rangers listening in looked exasperated too.

"But it wasn't my fault! I-"

"Shut up!" the girl shouted, spinning around and slapping me across the face. "Yes, it was your fault! You were supposed to protect him! Do you know what this means?"

"Um… non-rangers have a styler now?"

"No! The extremely powerful, top-secret _super styler_ is now in the hands of criminals! They can capture pokémon without making the emotional connection!"

"That's… bad?" In retrospect, what I felt was a dazed and exhausted response to this situation she probably interpreted as profound stupidity.

"What?! Did they just let you off the farm or something?!" She was practically hysterical, screeching her rage at me. I cringed, cornered against the wall with no means of escape. _Welcome to Fall City,_ I thought. _Somehow even worse than Ringtown._

"Aria, that's enough," a more collected voice said. A blond man approached, wearing glasses and an immaculately groomed silver and purple Fall City uniform. He seemed concerned and aware of the situation, but unflinchingly cool. "I'm Joel. I'm the leader here," he said as he approached me. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

I tried to explain what had happened in a similarly calm fashion, but I was seriously shaken up and my voice faltered. Those people were trying to kill me, and they succeeded in wounding Professor Hastings. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the professor was laid out on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. Although I was doing everything I could to prove my innocence, I still felt guilty.

When Joel said he was going to call Spencer for advice on the situation, my heart dropped. I had never failed this badly in Ringtown—I could predict what Spenser's reaction was going to be. I knew that Spencer and Joel were very close when they were rookies, so Joel was undoubtedly going to side with my enraged leader.

The lobby quickly emptied when the search parties went out to track down our attackers. All that was left was me and the girl that had yelled at me, Aria. She eyed me with disgust as we waited for Joel to finish his video call. You could hear Spencer's rage through the closed door.

"You must be one hell of a screw-up then, huh?" she sneered. I put my face in my lap and covered my head. This was so, so much worse than anything I had done back home. Whether it was actively 'my fault' or if I hadn't done enough to prevent the catastrophe, the blame always seemed to land back on me, no matter _what_ it was. But now I was being held responsible for injuries that befell one of the founders of the Ranger Union! I was sure Spencer wanted to destroy me.

When Joel exited his video chat, he seemed more displeased than before. Aria seemed thrilled at her leader's new disposition, almost eager to see me suffer.

"Well, Lunick, your leader had quite a mouthful to say about you." I looked down at my feet — not in shame, but to hide my frustration. "It seems that this kind of behavior has happened in the past."

"Behavior?! I-"

"I think the best way to deal with this would be to impose some kind of a punishment."

"Ooh! Ooh! Leader!" Aria chimed in, raising her hand like an overgrown schoolgirl. I could never truly hate anyone, but I really, really, _really_ did not like her just then. "The waste management department just submitted a report that they needed a ranger to clean up an infestation of grimer in the sewers!" Joel smiled softly. He obviously favored the girl, and she was more than aware of it.

"An excellent suggestion, Aria. Lunick, you will head to the sewers and help relocate the infestation of grimer. Try to use the time to think about what you've done and how you can improve."

"Yes, sir." I continued to look down at my feet. As Aria led me to the north of town to the entrance of the sewers, I could see a malicious sort of glee on her face. She seemed thrilled that I was in trouble, all for something I couldn't prevent. There was a whole list of nasty words I wanted to call her, but I knew it would be safest if they stayed inside my head.

The sewer cleanup took several grueling _days._ The grimer were everywhere, and not only did I have to relocate the grimer, I had to clean up the mess they made. You might not know this, but when bits of a grimer's slime fall off, they grow into new grimer. So while I was dealing with Pokémon, like in the ranger job description, I was also scrubbing rancid slime from the floors and walls. When I eventually pinned down where a massive muk was and dealt with it accordingly, the population stopped multiplying so rapidly and my job got much easier.

I'm ashamed to say that I did, in fact, think about what I could have done to prevent the incident in Krokka tunnel. I hadn't done anything wrong, but I kept going over in my head what I could have possibly done to prevent it from happening. _If I had just stuck by him, we wouldn't have gotten separated and I could have defended him. If I had just run a little faster, I could have at least stopped them from getting the super styler. If I wasn't just so damn unlucky, maybe I wouldn't be in this mess!_

The whole cleanup process was miserable even when I wasn't on the job. In the cafeteria, the other rangers wouldn't come anywhere near me. I kept telling myself it was the stench—which it probably was—but there was an underlying feeling that they didn't want to catch whatever failure virus I seemed to be carrying. Rejection I was used to; being shunned by such a large group, not so much.

When the sewers were finally sterile, I went to a save machine to record that the job was completed. The default message that is played when you logged in was "Your efforts are applauded." I knew it said that to everyone, and it had always said that every time I logged on, but I had been having an especially hard day. It felt good that someone—even an inanimate object—was taking notice of how hard I was trying. I flopped over on top of the machine, giving it an awkward kind of hug.

"Oh, save machine! At least you appreciate me!" I wailed melodramatically, although my words were veiled with some sort of truth.

"Lunick?"

"Ah! Solana! H-hi, S-solana" I stuttered, throwing myself off of the machine. She giggled at my awkwardness, and I prayed that she found my struggle endearing rather than pitiful. Her plusle sat quietly on her shoulder, observing me with its usual level of excitement. "How did you-? I mean, w-why are you-?"

"Spencer flew me here. He said something about a special mission, and something about… you."

"I can only image what that means," I groaned. She smiled, trying to support me. Of all the people in this world, maybe she and Murph were the only ones that understood and appreciated me.

"Whoa! Jeeze!" Solana had moved to walk beside me, but reeled back at my stench. She reached for her tool belt and proceeded to douse me with spray disinfectant. I inhaled a bit and coughed. With my sinuses tingling, I couldn't smell the stench of grimer anymore—let alone _anything_ else. "There. That ought to do it," she said, returning the mostly empty bottle to her waist.

"Thanks," I mumbled, and we proceeded to walk back towards the base.

"You really just can't catch a break, can you?" Solana asked. I sighed.

"It's not like I'm not used to it. I've always screwed up, just never this badly before."

"I'm sure Spencer's retelling was a bit biased. I want you to tell me what actually happened." I told her everything about that horrible day: the people in sketchy uniforms, the rhydon, and the awful girl in Fall City. It felt nice to get everything out, and I think Solana took the long route back on purpose so I could vent.

When we got back to the base, Spencer and Joel were waiting for us. Spencer had a look in his eye like he was almost happy to see me. That could never be true, so I was sure he had something _great_ planned for me.

"Ah, you two! Just who I wanted to see," he began. Solana and I stood at attention. I had a feeling of dread. "Joel and I were just discussing a plan that could benefit both of you. Since Solana is so talented and you two seem to get along well, we've decided to partner you two up, mentor to mentee."

Solana and I looked at each other with expressions that spoke of disappointment, irritation, and skepticism. Solana had been here a week at the most. I had been on the force for three years. Who was mentoring who?

"You see," Joel continued, "there is a challenge for rangers. It's in a temple in the jungle near Summerland. Cameron can fill you in on the details, but we think it could be beneficial to both of you."

"Who knows, Solana, maybe _you_ could learn a thing or two," Spencer joked. He and Joel laughed. Solana laughed uneasily and looked at me. Her face seemed to say "these guys are full of crap." I shrugged. It's not like we were going to be able to change their minds.

I took a shower at the ranger base to try and scrub the stench of grimer off of me. Solana still doused me with disinfectant when I met her outside, so I guess I didn't do a very good job. While I was in the shower, she had washed my spare uniforms, scrubbing thoroughly enough to get most of the reek out. It was one of the nicest thing another ranger had done for me. She was almost too good to be true. While Spencer's interest with her had led to my inevitable erasure, she was an incredibly nice person who genuinely cared about me. My heart seemed to tense up when I thought about her.

When we had made our way down to the dock, we discovered that our ride to Summerland was a tamed lapras. Summerland was several miles away, and the journey was sure to take at least until past sundown. Solana and I had plenty of time to talk and be brutally honest about our feelings. Hoo-ha.


	4. Getting Pretty Serious

I was glad to know that the lapras we were riding on was well-tempered about the long trip. It had made the same voyage several times before and the weather was mild—perfect for swimming. Now all I had to do was talk to Solana for the four-plus hour-long trip. She was agreeable, but you get sick of anyone after long hours without separation. I hoped this trip wasn't going to mean the end of our friendship.

"There's really no reason Spenser hates you so much?"

"No. I just figure that everyone needs a scapegoat, and that unfortunate position fell to me. It wasn't always that way, though. I used to be like you—new, and eager to learn. I guess he just lost interest or something. It's not like there was some big turning point, I guess I just… faded away."

"That's awful," Solana said softly. I turned so she couldn't see me blush. "It's not fair."

"Life's not fair," I sighed.

"See, that there- I know you're not depressed and angsty. I heard you and Murph banter about your unfortunate lives. You have a good nature about all of this, so why the sighing and slouching?"

"I guess it's just good to vent," I replied with a smile, though it took great effort. "Murph and I always joke around, so I don't really have anyone to talk to about serious things."

With that, Solana leaned up against me. I could feel her warm arm pressed against mine. I turned away to hide the blushing again.

"I'm here is you want to talk."

I took advantage of Solana's willingness to listen in order to open up to her. I told her everything about me. Although, having been raised in Ringtown, there wasn't much to tell. Murph and I did have our fair share of adventures, most of which made her laugh and smile. Seeing her happy made me feel happy, and lapras even seemed to be enjoying our laughter.

Solana also took the opportunity to open up to me. She told me about her home country, Johto, and the relationships with Pokémon there. I could barley wrap my wind around how cruel their customs seemed to be. To capture Pokémon—and own them! Then force them to fight against one another as a sport? Solana assured me that there were measures taken to prevent abuse, but the whole concept still seemed foreign and brutal.

When we ran out of things to talk about, we sat together in silence and watched the sun set. Solana's plusle impatiently ran around on the small area, climbing up and down the poor lapras' neck and hopping from ridge to ridge on its shell. We dipped our feet off of the edge of the shell to feel the cool water. The only sounds were the lapping of the waves against lapras' shell and the occasional screech of a wingull. A couple of rare lumenion leapt out of the water and sparkled in the sun like butterfree. We even saw a pod of wailord, and they came right up next to us to say hello. It was peaceful and beautiful- and I got to spend time with Solana. I couldn't have asked for a better end to an awful day.

We both went straight to bed as soon as we arrived at the Summerland ranger base. It's not that we were too tired; we just both knew that we had a long day ahead of us, and we needed our rest. The next morning was not so great. The other rangers kept their distance from us in the cafeteria again.

"What? Do I still smell?" I whispered to Solana.

"They probably heard about what happened in Fall City," she answered. My shoulders sagged a little. Even here, I was rejected. At least I had Solana for support this time.

"So, you must be Solana and Lunick." We looked up to see Cameron, the Summerland leader, approaching us. He seemed much more laid back than any of the other leaders and didn't even call for us to stand at attention. He was a little chubby, and seemed to always have a smile on his face. He reminded me a lot of Murph. "You're here for the challenge, right?"

"Yes, sir!" Solana cheerfully put in. "We're eager to go!"

Cameron chuckled. "Well, just let me say a few things first. When you get to the temple, you'll find four challenges. These challenges are going to test your skill, strength, endurance, blah blah blah I really don't remember. But it's really, really important—promise me you'll remember this—do _not_ complete the fourth challenge. There's some prophesy thing that the world will end or something like that—we really just don't want to risk it. You got that?"

"Do not complete the fourth challenge," Solana and I replied in unison.

"Great! I think you've got it! Just follow the first path out of town through the jungle, and you'll get to the temple eventually. Good luck!"

Once again, Solana and I found ourselves immersed in nature with only each other for company. I had never strayed much further than the forest around Ringtown, so the jungle was a new experience for me. Some of the path was difficult to walk on because of how overgrown the forest was. When we weren't fighting through a massive thicket of hedges and vines, the path was actually wide and well-kept. Trees towered hundreds of feet in the air, covered with flowering vines and various jungle Pokémon. Solana seemed just as awestruck as I was. A ways down the trail, I received a call on my styler.

"Hey! Where the heck are you? I haven't seen you in like a week!" said Murph from the other end of the line.

"Oh, hey Murph. I'm in Summerland," I answered boastingly, smiling at Solana.

"What?! You lucky bastard- how did you get stationed there?"

"I suck so badly that I got to go on a special training mission with a mentor. Check out who it is." I held the phone out to Solana.

"Hey Murph!"

Murph had a moment of comprehension. "Ohhhhhh, I see. It's just you, and a girl. In a jungle. On a 'mission'. _Alone._ "

"NicetohearfromyoubyeMurph." I quickly shut off the phone. Solana laughed again. I laughed too, though it had to be a bit forced. Once again, I prayed that my awkwardness was endearing instead of pathetic. I really wanted her respect, especially since she seemed to be one of the few people in the world who cared about me. I looked to the back of her head, where her plusle was clinging to her hair. It had been quiet for nearly the whole trip, but now it was winking knowingly at me. I glared playfully back, and it trilled happily. Pokémon were always much more receptive to emotions, and it had obviously picked up on my actions towards its partner.

"Hey, can I see your styler for a minute?" she asked.

"Uh, sure, I guess," I answered, handing it over. She compared my styler to hers. It looked like hers was a newer model, and mine was in need of a few upgrades.

"Whoa! You're level twenty? How did you manage that? I'm only level two and I've been working pretty much non-stop since I got here!"

"Extra loops. Once I've completed the capture, I make a few more loops. It helps the experience meter."

"And you've never gone much further than Lyra forest?"

"Not since recently."

"And I'm the one mentoring you," she said with a low laugh.

After a few hours of walking, we eventually reached the towering pyramid temple. We both plugged into the save machine out front to recharge our stylers.

"Hey- do you hear that?" Solana said.

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like there's someone in the temple." I listened closely, and I could hear voices coming from the entrance. "Let's go check it out."

We crawled up the temple stairs, keeping low to the ground and off to the side of the main path. Some local Pokémon eyes us warily, but kept their distance. I was nervous, shaking slightly as we climbed, but Solana seemed calm and determined. She really was great at her job—perhaps she deserved the preferential treatment.

Upon reaching the entrance of the temple, we hid behind a crumbling wall to watch the strangers. There seemed to be four people, a little bit older than I was, but still kids. All four, three boys and one girl, looked so similar they could have been twins—quadruplets? They all wore flashy outfits, like they were wannabe rock stars. They even carried instruments with them. The Pokémon they had with them seemed unhappy, borderline enraged, but too afraid to lash out at their masters.

"There's something wrong with those Pokémon," Solana whispered to me. "I'm going to check it out." She stood up from our hiding spot and started to walk towards them.

"No! No, Solana, please," I whispered, begging her to stay, but she ignored me. I was never really a nervous wreck, but there was something about this situation that rubbed me the wrong way. You might say that my 'fight or flight' response was perpetually stuck in flight position. I hated confrontation, and if I was backed into a corner I always tried to find a peaceful way out of it.

When the four kids noticed Solana, they seemed amused, if only to be condescending.

"Oh, look! A ranger!" the oldest-looking one laughed.

"What have you done to those Pokémon?" Solana demanded, confident. This only seemed to amuse them more.

"I think this would be a good time to try out that new feature, right guys?" The oldest said again, ignoring Solana. "I've wanted to see if this worked ever since we modified the super styler…"

My stomach plummeted as all of the pieces came together in my mind. They had the super styler. That meant they were somehow associated with the attack of Professor Hastings. That meant they were incredibly dangerous. I wanted nothing more to call out to Solana, to warn her of the danger, but I was paralyzed in fear. I could only watch helplessly as the boy took out his own styler and made a loop around Solana. The line didn't disappear when the loop was completed, no, not only did it remain, but when the boy yanked his styler upwards, the loop tightened around Solana's arms.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Solana snapped, still unaware of the danger. I couldn't breathe. My brain had completely shut down in the face of danger. I could only watch on, helpless.

"What about the built in poke-assists?" one of the others asked, I didn't notice which. The boy holding the styler smiled cruelly.

"I almost forgot about that. Which one to try first? How about… electric?" He pressed a button on the styler. I watched in horror as Solana convulsed and screamed, the electric current running through her. Her plusle screamed, also helpless to do anything. It tried to attack one of the kids, but they kicked the poor pokemon across the room. It finally remembered me, and decided it was time for action. It ran to my side and gave me a shock. I yelped loudly in surprise and pain.

"There's another one over there!" the girl in the group said, pointing to my hiding spot. I tried to regain my composure and remain hidden, but they were all looking straight at me. My cover blown, I stood to face them. I could feel myself shaking.

"L-let her go!" I demanded loudly, but weakly. This only seemed to amuse them.

"Or you'll do what?" the oldest laughed. He was right. I had neglected to collect any friend Pokémon. Without a partner Pokémon, I was pretty much a helpless weakling.

"Lunick, get help!" Solana cried. They shocked her again in punishment, and her scream echoed throughout the temple.

"Stop!" I cried. One of the other boys sent his styler top out at me, undoubtedly trying to capture me too. Recognizing the danger, I flipped my styler on as well. I rammed my top into his, sending it flying. They may have had a powerful, unstable, jailbroken styler, but I had more skill.

We dueled tops for a while. The adrenaline rush was fueling my panicked defense, and the opponent's top never got anywhere near me. I knew that if he got a single loop around me, it was game over. The only way this confrontation could end was either with me breaking his styler, or me being captured as well. The others took this opportunity to test out more of the built in poke-assists on poor Solana. Her shrieks of pain fuelled my desperate panic.

I flipped my opponent's top one last time, and the light on top flickered out. My charge had seriously decreased, but I was still going. The boy huffed angrily and he picked up the dead top.

"I'll take care of this," the girl in the group said, stepping forward. She took out what looked like a violin, but accented with wires and lights. It looked almost like a custom styler, or maybe a piece of ugly public art. When she played the instrument, all the Pokémon surrounding them cringed in pain. I flinched as well, perhaps sensing the impending attack. Every Pokémon charged me at once. I scrambled to the top of a crumbled wall, styler at the ready.

"Lunick! Go back to base! Get help!" Solana cried, accompanied by another scream in pain. The last thing I wanted to do was leave her, but the four kids started to pull her down into the temple. "Get out of here!"

The Pokémon below me snapped at my ankles, trying to attack. I flipped out my top and sent it behind the group. They didn't notice until I flipped around front, closing a single loop. Rangers are supposed to convey feelings of kindness and love, but the only thing coming across then was fear.

 _Please, listen to me!_ A grovyle lashed out at me, giving me a cut on my ankle. _My friend is in trouble! If you would please-_ A Pokémon's attack hit my top, cutting my charge massively. I had barely five units left, and the meter was blinking red. If I had to return to base to get my styler fixed, Solana would be done for.

Out of nowhere, Solana's plusle ran to the center of the Pokémon and let loose a massive jolt of electricity. While all of the Pokémon were paralyzed on the floor, I drew several loops around them. I managed to get enough in by the time they recovered that they had returned to their docile natures. I knelt in exhaustion as the Pokémon lumbered away. Plusle leapt to my side and pulled at my sleeve, begging me to follow.

"Sorry, plusle, I just need a moment to-" my sentence was cut short by another shriek from Solana, echoing from inside the temple. My adrenaline rush was back, and I soon found myself barreling down the stairs after her, plusle clinging to the back of my head.

The first challenge began at the bottom of the stairs. The entrance had a gate covered in unown runes, even a translation put there by the rangers, but I ignored it all. All that mattered was getting to Solana and rescuing her. I leapt hurdles, pressed buttons, opened secret doors—my brain was on overdrive. But I finally had to stop at the final room. A massive kingdra was blocking the door to the next challenge. It glared at me angrily, immediately charging for an attack.

 _No! Kingdra, wait!_ I took out my styler and began turning loops around it. This only seemed to infuriate it more. _I need to get past quickly! My friend is in danger._ It seemed to pause at this, eyeing me warily. _I realize that you're part of the challenge and this is your job, but please! I'm desperate!_

The kingdra seemed to respond to this, and immediately calmed down. When the capture was complete, it moved to the side and allowed me through. As I ran past, it nodded its approval at me, very clearly giving me support. And somehow, in my head, it gave me a bit of encouragement. _Godspeed_.

The next two challenges were a blur. Sand being blown into my face by gale-force winds and a whole mess of moving floor panels flew by. The Pokémon guardians, a salamance and a flygon, didn't put up much of a fight at all. They thrashed a little, then allowed me to complete my capture. As I ran past, they also seemed to have very knowing expressions. My only explanation was that either my panic had gotten across to them, or kingdra had somehow communicated to them that they should go easy on me. During the whole journey, the echoes of Solana's pained screams beckoned me on.

I paused at the gate of the fourth challenge. A sign posted on the gate once again reminded me to _not_ , under _any_ circumstances, complete the fourth challenge. It mentioned something about the world ending in fire and brimstone, but I didn't read it all. I was interrupted by another of Solana's screams. I dashed into the fourth challenge, ignoring any warnings of the consequences.

This challenge was made of fire. Geysers of lava spouted across the path. My leg was burned by a cloud of steam, and I paused to inspect it. I only stopped until I remembered that Solana must be in much, much worse pain that I was, and I continued onwards.

When I reached the final room, I finally caught up to the four villains. They stood facing the entrance, as if they were expecting me. Solana was standing, but just barely, looking exhausted and in pain.

"It's about time you got here!" the oldest shouted. I was immediately suspicious. _What do they need me for?_ "You see, there's this pesky Pokémon in the way, and we can't continue our plans. Take care of it, will you?" He strummed a chord on his guitar, which I assumed was another modified styler. I was filled with dread as the ground began to rumble.

The wall behind them collapsed, and a massive charizard burst through. Landing between us, it looked me in the eye. I could see pain and fear, but it was mostly overflowing with rage. It charged me, and I instinctively flipped out my styler.

"No! Lunick, don't!" Solana cried, punished by another shock. Her screaming once again gave me the rush I needed for battle. The charizard had already been weakened—probably by the same people hurting Solana—but it still put up a massive fight. The ground would erupt with lava, fireballs scattering across the ground. I had to be just as concerned with capturing the charizard as I was with my own safety. Solana's plusle stayed by my side, willing to recharge my styler or shock the charizard into paralysis at any time. Whenever I needed an emotional boost, I would glance at Solana. She was giving me a desperate look, as if she wanted to say something she couldn't.

Eventually, with enough successful loops and frantic attempts to calm the charizard down, I managed to subdue it. Free, it flew off into the depths of the temple. The group of four seemed excited and pleased with my work.

"Well, as much as I despise the rangers, that was very impressive," the oldest said. "That's all we needed from you. Here, take you girlfriend back." He released Solana, and before she could fall to the ground, kicked her forward towards me. It was like time stood still as she fell unceremoniously on her face, limp as a rag doll. I ran to her side as the four got away, skipping like giddy schoolchildren.

"Solana! Are you all right?" I cried, pulling her into my arms. The capture line had burned through her uniform, making a scarred ring around her torso. The wound was purple and green-tell-tale signs of poisoning. Her bangs were matted with sweat and she seemed exhausted. She was such a mess—this was supposed to be a light bonding experience for us, but now I was holding her broken body in my arms. She groaned as she stirred.

"Lunick…"

"It's all right, Solana. I'm here, I've got you. I-I'm going to get you out of here, I just-"

"Lunick."

"Don't move, you'll hurt yourself. I just need to get us out-"

"Lunick!" She grabbed my collar with a surprising burst of strength. She pulled our faces closer together—so close, I thought she was going to kiss me. She hissed out five words that made the world stop.

"You completed the fourth challenge!"


	5. The Flames Spread

… _What?_

I couldn't tell if the ground was rumbling or if I was just shaking. Plumes of fire began to burst forth from cracks in the stone floor. Plusle screamed, desperately trying to tug me towards the exit.

 _I didn't complete the fourth… wait… no… oh Arceus, the charizard!_

Plusle shocked me back into the present, and I sprung into action. I tried to help Solana to her feet, but at that point she was too weak to stand. Next I wanted to scoop her up in my arms in a bridal carry, but the position was so unbalanced that it would have endangered us both. I finally decided that putting her on my back like a lifeless piggy-back ride was the most effective method. We escaped the room of the fourth challenge just as the floor sank into a lake of lava.

Everywhere around me, the walls of the temple were collapsing and bursting into flames. Panicked Pokémon fled towards the exit, and I tried my best to keep up with Solana on my back. I would have been horrified at the destruction of a natural habitat if I weren't fleeing for my life at the moment. Later, every memory of that time would be laced with the thought of ' _I did this.'_

I was about to cross a bridge across a lake of lava when the molten rock burst in a geyser. I was knocked backwards with a shout, Solana falling off of my back. As I was trying to cling to her, plusle, and the bit of rock we were stranded on, I glanced over to our destroyed path. A magnificent Pokémon stood in the lava, looking straight at me. It looked like a red dog, but with a billowing cloud cape and with an aura of power. As it looked me straight in the eye, I knew that it was something of legend.

The legendary dog fled when a wall of steam began approaching behind it. Soon, the whole room was filled with steam and I couldn't see a foot in front of my face. Clinging to Solana, I prayed that our deaths would be quick and painless.

"Crrrroak?"

I looked up and came face-to-face with a politoed. It seemed calm and collected, but still concerned about the situation around us. It took me a moment, but I recognized the Pokémon from that morning. It was in the Summerland ranger base—a partner Pokémon. I realized that the ranger must be close by.

"Help!" I shouted. "Over here!"

"Hello?" A voice called back. My heart leapt with hope—there was still a chance to escape! I kept calling for help, hoping he would find us before the lava rose too much. As the steam cleared, I realized that politoed must have sprayed water over the lava-covered path, and it was once again passable. I dragged Solana across the bridge, reaching the other side just as the other ranger got to us.

"What happened?" he exclaimed. I was used to this expression being an angry phrase, but this ranger seemed genuinely concerned for our safety.

"I… she was captured," I answered, out of breath; I hadn't realized just how tired I was. "They… tortured her… I had to…complete the fourth challenge."

"You what?!"

"I had to! To save her!" Once again, it seemed like he wasn't going to believe me. He shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. We have to get out of here- now!"

He scooped Solana up in his strong arms and headed towards the exit. I carried plusle and politoed sprayed water on our path to make sure it was safe. I wanted to carry Solana, to make sure she was safe, but I entrusted her to the stronger arms of the older boy.

When we finally escaped the temple, I realized just how bad the situation was. Lava was leaking out of cracks in the sides of the temple, causing forest fires in the jungle. As we made our way down the steps, other rangers were showing up with water-type Pokémon, extinguishing any wayward flames. It looked like the entire Summerland ranger force had rushed to the temple to contain my mistake. Cameron rushed to us.

"What… how…?" he gasped, out of breath from running.

"It's the fourth challenge," the ranger carrying Solana replied. I would have explained, but a stayed quiet out of exhaustion and shame. Cameron's eyes grew wide. "He couldn't help it—he had to in order to save her life." His eyes grew wider still. "This kid said something about people torturing her." I honestly thought Cameron was going to pass out, judging by how pale he was. He flopped over backwards, sitting flat on the ground.

"Gosh, I… I don't know _what_ to do," Cameron muttered, looking off into the distance.

"We need to get Solana help!" I burst out. Cameron looked to me.

"Right, right," he said, nodding while he stood up. "Come on, I know a shortcut back to the base."

The Summerland medics did all they could to help Solana, but after a few days of trying, they decided that the best thing for her would be to send her to the Fall City hospital for better care. I could only watch as Solana was strapped to a gurney and airlifted by a flygon, plusle by her side. I was so concerned with her well-being that I completely forgot about my own.

"Lunick," Cameron addressed me. He seemed sadder than usual. "I contacted Joel and Spencer about what's happened here, and they want you to return by dragonite bus immediately." My heart dropped.

"No! You can't! They hate me!" I cried.

"I'm so sorry, Lunick. Believe me, I grew up with the two of them. I know how they are. All I can say is…well, good luck."

The ride on the dragonite bus seemed to take forever. I was filled with dread for the tongue-lashing that was coming. I clung to the dragonite's back, trying to fight back tears. It hummed, as if to ask what was wrong.

"I just… this always happens to me," I sighed. "I did everything I could to do the right thing, but I'm still going to get in trouble. I doubt they'll be waiting with a gold medal of bravery." The dragonite hummed in support. "I destroyed that temple, my friend if badly hurt… why does all this bad stuff happen to me?"

The dragonite hummed again, and this time I could feel its emotions. It reached its head up and nuzzled me supportively. I could tell exactly what message it was trying to get across. _If you really did the right thing, just stand your ground, and everything will be okay._

It wasn't. I soon found myself facing two enraged leaders, staring at my feet as I stood against a barrage of anger and disappointment.

"In all my years as a ranger, I have never seen such a-"

"Imbecile! Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Under distinct orders from your superiors, you still decided to go ahead and-"

"That volcano is going to heat up the entire ecosystem! Entire species will be displaced—or even die out!"

"You foolishness has-"

"And Solana! Look at what happened to her!"

"You should have defended your fellow ranger instead of-"

"They wouldn't have even gotten the super styler if it weren't for you!"

"I am very disappointed."

"I can't believe how much of an idiot you are!"

"Your actions are not without consequences."

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?!"

I remained looking down at my feet. I had no reason to feel ashamed; I had done the right thing. And yet, their words still hurt. After staring at the ground for a moment, I looked them both in the eye.

"If I said anything, would you even listen?"

This sent them on another tirade about how I was wrong. They didn't mention how brave I was to face danger in order to save Solana, or how much skill it took to complete all four challenges, only how much of a failure I was.

After their rant, Joel and Spencer sent me out to Krokka tunnel to clean up my mess. Apparently, the rockslides that had trapped me in the tunnel were still there, obstructing commerce and transportation to Ringtown. This grunt work was supposed to keep me busy until they decided my _real_ punishment.

When I got to the tunnel, Aria was already there. She had utilized a hariyama to help her clean up one of the mountains of stone. My mouth went sour with memories of her cruelty.

"Oh! There you are!" she said, cheerful but condescending. "I was supposed to help you out. I've got one of the piles, so there should be only about ten more for you to clean up. Have fun!" She skipped off, back towards town. I could feel my face grow warm with anger. Spencer may have hated me for no reason, but this girl really just liked to watch me suffer.

I wandered deeper into the cave, half-heartedly searching for a strong Pokémon to help me. I couldn't stop thinking about Solana. Joel and Spencer had blamed me for everything that happened to her, and now I was starting to believe them. All I could see in my head was her broken body in my arms. I went through every detail of that day, what I could have done to help her, to stop those awful people, to not complete the fourth challenge. I knew I shouldn't be beating myself up over this, but I couldn't help it. Solana was hurt, and I blamed myself.

During my wandering, I heard a roar from somewhere off in the cave. My intuition sensed that something was wrong. I headed towards the noise, getting louder and louder. The creature sounded like it was in pain, and I hurried.

I reached an open cavern and, upon seeing movement, ducked behind a stalagmite. I watched as a rhydon—the same one from before? —fought off its four human attackers. They appeared to be lashing whips made of energy at the poor Pokémon. Under closer inspection, I realized that the whips were instead capture lines, connected to the styler's antenna and without a top. I didn't even think about how the technology to do that was possible as I watched their barbarity. A shiver went down my spine as I recognized the four offenders. _Them!_

Suddenly, I was angry. I was getting in trouble for everything _they_ had done. And now they were attacking a defenseless Pokémon? In my rage, I leapt from my hiding place, lashing my styler at them. They seemed shocked at my entrance, and didn't have time to react before I put myself between them and the rhydon.

"Run! Get out of here!" I shouted to the Pokémon. It understood and charged away, into a separate tunnel. I turned back to those four horrible people. They seemed almost delighted to see me.

"Oh! It's you!" the oldest said. "We almost didn't get to thank you for completing the fourth challenge for us. You see, we captured the charizard, but it somehow didn't trigger the eruption. I guess someone had to do the other three challenges, and fortunately, your little girlfriend led you right to us and everything worked out. Please, allow us to return the favor!"

All four lashed their ranger-capturing super styler tops out towards me. I fought ferociously, using only my capture top as defense. But with only my own self-preservation urging me on, rather than a friend's shrieks of pain, I was quickly overpowered. The first managed to get a good loop around my dominant right wrist, yanking my styler out of my hand. I struggled desperately, panicking, but the rest happened so suddenly. One wrapped around my torso, as with Solana. The third caught my neck- I was pulled to the ground in my attempt to avoid being strangled. The last caught my legs, effectively immobilizing me.

I snarled as they smiled down at me. I thrashed, trying to get out of their grasp, but they only pulled tighter. Fear started to overwhelm me. Again, I pictured Solana's injuries, her screaming echoed in my head.

"Everyone pick a different assist. Okay? Ready? One… two…" My heart thumped in my chest as I started to hyperventilate. Solana was laid up at the hospital when just one of these guys was hurting her. Four at once? I doubted I would survive.

My world went white with the immense pain. I seized on the ground, all limb control shut down. Screaming was involuntary, and it seemed to amuse my attackers even more. I wasn't so much thinking when I realized the very real possibility of death.

Another roar suddenly accompanied my screaming, and the pain soon stopped. My ears were ringing and I was still relatively immobilized, but I could feel the ground shaking and stalactites falling around me. As I slowly became aware of my surroundings, I saw another creature in the room, defending me from my attackers. It lashed out at them, crushing their control instruments under its massive feet. I eventually realized that the rhydon had returned to defend me.

After a few minutes of chaos, the group of four fled the cave, terrified and without their weapons. Satisfied that they were gone, the rhydon turned back to me, realized I was awake, and ran at me. I had seen what its feet had done to their stylers—I didn't want that happening to me. I crawled towards my styler, wounds burning. I was almost there when the monster caught me, pressing me down under its massive hand. I moaned in fear and anguish—I was _so close_ to getting out of there alive, and now this thing was pushing me into the ground, aggravating my newly obtained wounds.

The rhydon picked me up off the ground. I struggled to reach my styler, but it had pinned my arms to my sides. It lifted me up to its face so it could get a good look at me. Tears were freely streaming down my face—after the stress of being blamed for everything, Aria's unjustified cruelty, failing to protect Solana and being tortured myself, and now the realization that I was probably going to be eaten by this furious rhydon, I simply could not hold in the tears. The rhydon growled at me, as if to ask a question, but my only response was to choke out a sob.

The rhydon suddenly let out a bellowing roar that echoed throughout the entire cave. Soon, I could hear scuttling in the tunnels, accompanied by the cries of more Pokémon. _Did it call its friends to help kill me?_ The rhydon headed back towards the main tunnels, where the mounds of rocks were. The other creatures in the cave followed us. I didn't think about what it was doing, too light-headed from the crying and the torture. When we finally got to the tunnel, something amazing happened. The other Pokémon all worked together to move the rocks out of the tunnel. _What the…?_

Rhydon placed me on its shoulder, and I watched as all of my work was done for me. The tears of fear and frustration faded into tears of happiness—maybe because someone other than Murph or Solana was helping me, but probably because I was already crying in the first place. I hugged rhydon's head in thanks, and it growled back affectionately. There was now a third person on my list of people who actually liked me, and they weren't even human.


	6. Fidelity of Friends

Spirits rejuvenated, I decided I needed to get some medical attention for my wounds. A zubat swiftly returned my styler to me, and I limped back towards Fall City. I was giddy with the thought of what they would say when I returned from several days' worth work in a matter of hours. However, my high spirits didn't last.

Upon reaching the outskirts of Fall City, I immediately realized something was very wrong. As usual, I hid behind a rock and watched. My throat constricted when I saw those same dark uniforms as when I was attacked in Krokka tunnel. The goons were everywhere, each holding a modified super styler. If this wasn't concerning enough, I was even more horrified when I saw what was happening at the ranger base.

Rangers were being led from the base in a similar super styler lasso that had snagged Solana—prisoners. They were being loaded into a flying vehicle for transport. I saw Aria led out by two guards, struggling in a rage. They gave her a shock, and she screamed and fell to the ground. I won't say I felt sorry for her, but I was definitely concerned for the well-being of my fellow rangers.

When Joel and Spencer were led from the building, I snapped. I sprinted in the opposite direction, back towards Krokka tunnel. I know it seems cowardly, but I would have been much less useful captured by the enemy. There were far too many bad guys there for me to have made even a speck of a difference. At least running away would lead me to Ringtown, where I might be of some help.

The Pokémon were still cleaning up the tunnel when I returned. They were concerned at my panic and all looked to me. Seeing all of those powerful creatures looking at me, I got an idea.

"Don't let anyone through the tunnel," I gasped, out of breath. "There's something bad going on in Fall City, and you can't let anyone come after me. Well, unless a ranger escapes. Or if it's a fleeing civilian. Just- don't let the bad guys through, okay?"

The other Pokémon seemed perplexed at my request, but rhydon seemed to understand perfectly. It seemed more intelligent and receptive than other Pokémon, so I knew my message had gotten through. Confident that they had my back, I left the Pokémon and continued running down the path.

Tiny Lyra forest had never seemed so large. I sprinted the whole way out of fear, fighting through brambles and wading through creeks in an attempt to get there faster. I was out of breath, shaking, and terrified the whole way, like the villains were right on my tail the whole time. I had never been more relieved to reach my childhood home.

When I ran into the ranger base, I expected to see it overflowing with rangers suiting up and eager to help fight for Fall City. I was horrified to find it empty, save for Murph and slowpoke napping behind the receptionist's counter.

"MURPH!" I screamed. He promptly awoke and fell out of his chair.

"Hmuh? Wha?" he mumbled, stumbling on the ground and trying to stand up.

"Where the hell is everyone?!"

"They went to Fall City," Murph replied calmly. "We got a call that there was a situation there that needed our entire base's help. They left me here to watch the town." My heart plummeted.

"No…"

"Why? What's the big deal?" Murph's naïve statements were the last thing I needed at the moment.

"It must have been a trap!" I cried.

"What?" From his expression, I could tell he was finally catching on.

"Some people- those people that attacked me before, they've attacked Fall City! All of the rangers have been captured!" Murph was speechless. While the situation was dumbfounding, he was probably too slow to come up with anything to say. "Arceus- they probably said the same thing to the other bases! We might be the only ones left!"

"I-I'll call Summerland!" Murph started at the computer. He was quick about that at least- he was always pretty good with technology. There were a few, tense moments when the video phone was ringing, but we were relieved to see a familiar face at the other end. It was the very same ranger with the politoed that had helped me rescue Solana in the temple.

"Summerland ranger base, Percy here, how can I-"

"Where is everyone?" I blurted out. "Is there anyone there besides you?"

"Um… no. They were all called to Fall City on an emergency mission."

My spirits crushed again, I sank to the floor. Murph tried to explain the situation above. Three of the towns in Fiore had fallen. Three rangers remained to save them, as far as we knew. It seemed hopeless. Murph and I were fairly incompetent, and a single Summerland ranger wasn't going to help much.

"I'm calling everyone, but no one is responding. Cameron… Leilani… nothing!"

"They must have been captured," Murph said solemnly.

The computer started beeping urgently. Someone else wanted to join our chat, from a number we didn't recognize. The three of us looked at each other, unsure what to do.

"I'm going to answer it," Murph declared, reaching for the button. Panicking, I tackled him.

"No!" I cried. "What if it's them! They'll know we're here!"

"Honestly, they're probably on their way to check our towns. We don't have much time- this could be help!" Percy protested. "I'm answering it."

"No!"

The screen popped up, displaying the face of an unfamiliar woman. Percy seemed relieved.

"Elita, thank Arceus you're still okay," he sighed. I recognized her name—she was the leader of the fourth town in Fiore: Wintown. Elita didn't seem amused.

"Just what is going on down there?" she snapped. "Not only are these strange characters trying to invade my town, I just got a message that we should send all of our rangers to Fall City right away-"

"No!"

"Don't!"

"It's a trap!" The three of us shouted simultaneously. Elita jumped at the outburst.

"Fall City has been taken," Murph said, calmer than me and the Summerland ranger. "All of our rangers were tricked into falling into the trap and have been captured. The three of us are the only ones left, to the best of our knowledge." Elita was silent, troubled and calculating.

"They're probably on their way to capturing the three of you as well," Elita finally spoke. "The best thing for you to do is get to Wintown as quickly as possible without getting captured."

"But the airways are probably restricted," I put in, "and there's no road to Wintown from here. How are we supposed to get there?"

"There is a way," the Summerland ranger said. "There's an inlet- a fjord, if you will, leading to a cave. If we follow that cave long enough, we should reach Wintown."

Elita nodded in agreement. "If you can at least make it to the cave, I can send someone to guide you here. You'll have to be sneaky- I'm sure they're looking for you." The three of us nodded.

"I'll meet you guys there," said Percy. Everything was falling together. We had a plan, and it was going to work. It had to work—the fate of all of Fiore rested in the few of us left behind.

When Murph wrapped up the phone call, I was ready to go out the door that second. But he started bumbling around, sifting through the supply closet.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"If we're going on a trip, we'll need some supplies," he replied, picking up a backpack and stuffing some snacks into it. Once again, laid-back Murph had no idea how gripping the danger we were in truly was.

"Are you kidding me? They're probably on their way here- they could be in town right now!"

"Oh yeah, who's going to watch the town while we're gone?"

"I think Ringtown can fend for itself for once, let's move!" I was losing my patience.

"Do you think we'll need a first aid kit?"

"NOW, MURPH!" I screamed. I never yelled at my best friend, but I had never been so scared in my life. Even being inside was making me uncomfortable, like I was cornered or trapped—there was nowhere to run. I was still injured and in pain, but all I wanted to do was run, to get away from there.

"All right, all right, yeesh" he sighed, zipping up the backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. He picked up slowpoke, which was still napping on the floor, and held it under his arm. It hung there like the limp, pink sausage it was.

"Okay, let's go," I said, refraining from rolling my eyes in exasperation.

As we walked out the door, I nervously checked our surroundings. It seemed like business as usual in Ringtown, until I spotted the strange uniforms of the villains the exact moment they spotted me.

"There!" one shouted. My entire body tensed, despite the pain I was in, as my fight or flight response immediately prepared to flee. But before I could even utter expletives under my breath, slowpoke opened its mouth wide as if to yawn. Murph stumbled backwards as a powerful jet of water came torrenting out of its mouth, driving them back. If it could keep it up, it might be able to buy us some time.

"Go get'm, buddy!" Murph said, placing slowpoke on the ground.

"Let's go!" I shouted, running south towards the woods. This wasn't Lyra forest so there were no cleared paths, but Murph and I were still familiar with the terrain. I crashed through bushes, my face whipped by branches as I fled. When I reached a small clearing, I suddenly remembered I was supposed to be travelling with someone. I turned around—thankfully, our pursuers were nowhere to be seen, but Murph was several yards behind me, huffing and puffing as he tried to disentangle himself from the wood.

I wasn't even upset enough to roll my eyes at him again—I just wanted us to be safe. I jogged back to him, grabbed his wrist, and proceeded to drag him through the woods with me, despite his complaints. He stumbled over every root and branch, but I didn't care. I couldn't tell the difference between the noises we were making or if there were branches snapping behind us.

"Lunick, where are we going?" Murph panted. At that point I really didn't care as long as it was away from getting captured. But as the forest floor faded to gravely stone, I remembered where we were headed towards. South of Ringtown, where the land met ocean, were the Ringtown Cliffs. If we followed them along the coast, we would reach the inlet we were headed towards, but our pursuers cut us off from where we were supposed to meet up with Percy. In my desperate urge to flee, I had inadvertently trapped us.

We stopped at the edge of the cliff. Down below, the ocean beat rhythmically against the rock face. It was about a 100 foot drop, but the water was relatively deep and there were no rocks to hit in the water. Daredevil kids would come from all over Fiore to try jumping off these cliffs. Still, that didn't make it safe. Due to the height of the cliffs, there was a good chance of hitting the water wrong and getting knocked unconscious, and subsequently drowning. Even if we did survive the fall, the choppy water would splatter us against the cliff.

"Well what do we do now, genius? You wanna jump?" Murph panted, hands on his knees.

I was starting to panic. There was no time to make a plan of escape, and we couldn't fight back. The non-existent options narrowed themselves as the crashing of approaching enemies grew louder behind us. I looked desperately at Murph. His expression of exasperation dropped into serious realization. He knew what I was thinking.

"No," he said flatly. "Lunick, no." I glanced behind us. I could see them coming through the woods. I turned back to the ocean and took a deep breath.

And just as they cleared the forest behind us, I grabbed my best friend by the wrist and we jumped off the cliff.


	7. The Hunted

Falling is surprisingly quiet if you're not screaming. But that didn't last long.

My mind raced as we fell. _How are you supposed to hit the water? Feet first? Are you supposed to do a pencil dive? Or do you cross your arms and legs? Will locking my knees break them on impact?_ Murph was more preoccupied with spinning through the air and screaming when we hit the water.

I landed feet first and sustained minimal damage. The impact stunned me and I floated underwater for a moment. Every inch of me ached, but after a moment of shock, I forced myself to swim to the surface.

Before I could take a breath, a wave crashed down on top of me, forcing me down again. I made it to the surface to breathe in the lull before the next wave. But in the moment of clarity, I realized that Murph was nowhere to be found. I scanned the water and saw a spot where bubbles rose up from below. I assumed the worst and dove down under the next wave.

The salt stung my eyes and the water was murky with silt, but sure enough, Murph was sinking down, unconscious. I didn't see how he had hit the water, so I prayed he hadn't broken his neck. I swam down to help, and sure enough, that damn backpack was pulling him down. When I slipped it off him, it sank like a rock. I grabbed my friend under the armpits and pulled us to the surface.

Once again, a wave crashed down on us, denying me the opportunity to breathe. When I got Murph to the surface, we had precious seconds before another wave came. It was relentless, and every wave pushed us closer to the cliff and threatened to throw us against the rocks. Up above, I could see those that were chasing us looking down. They would have to be crazy to jump after us—at least as crazy as I was to jump in the first place.

I tried to wrap my arms around Murph's stomach in order to maybe Heimlich him back to consciousness, but doing so would push my head underwater, and I would be unable to keep him at the surface too. With every wave, it was harder and harder to surface before the next one. The more exhausted I got, the more desperate our situation became. I cried out in my mind _Arceus, anyone, please help us!_

And suddenly, a hard surface rose up beneath us. I thought we had hit the ocean floor, but I realized we were above the water and able to breathe. A great blue neck surfaced in front of us. It turned around to look at us, and I realized a lapras had come to our aid. It appeared to be the same one that had given me a ride to Summerland with Solana—the one that was previously living at the Fall City harbor. Perhaps it had escaped during the mayhem.

I flipped Murph onto his back and checked for breathing. Nothing. I groaned in anticipation of resuscitating him. I wasn't exactly well-versed in CPR, nor did I want to 'kiss' my best friend, but it was to save his life. I gave him two breaths to fill his lungs, and then started the chest compressions. I fortunately didn't have to do them for long, because after the first few compressions he started coughing and spitting up water.

I turned him onto his side so he could breathe better and so he could vomit the seawater towards the ocean. Lapras didn't seem enthralled that Murph was throwing up all over its shell, but it did seem pleased that he wasn't dead.

Now that Murph was conscious and sitting up on his own, I finally had an opportunity to rest. I laid down on my back and just breathed. Every bit of me hurt, but if I didn't move it was bearable. Glancing up at the cliff edge, I could see no sign of the bad guys. I closed my eyes and just felt the warm sun on my skin and was glad to be alive.

"You-" Murph croaked, his throat still raw with seawater. "You FREAKIN MANIAC!" he shouted. I laughed lightly. "You could've killed us! Are you happy?"

"I'm happy to not be captured," I sighed, letting relief finally set in.

"Arceus Christ," he muttered, coughing up more water. I heard a trilling from above me, so I opened my eyes to see lapras looking at me, as if asking a question.

"Oh, to the inlet. We're meeting someone there. Please," I said to it. It seemed to understand and started to swim along the coastline, but further out to sea so we weren't tossed so much by the waves. It was a clear day, and the sun beat down. The salty breeze offered a brief break from the burning heat.

"Hey, what happened to you?" Murph asked. He was looking at my shirt where the super styler attack had burned through. "Did you rip it when we were running through the woods, or…?"

"Remember what those people did to Solana? They did that to me." I adjusted my shirt so Murph could see the burn that wrapped around my chest, and pointed out the wounds on my wrist and neck. His mouth hung open in shock, and the expression on his face—regret? He looked away, almost ashamed. Surely now he understood why I was so desperate to escape, and why I threw us off the cliff.

Watching Murph's reaction to my injuries made me realize just how much I had accomplished that day. Not only had I survived being tortured, I had ran all the way from Fall City to Ringtown while injured, saved my best friend from being captured, jumped off the Ringtown Cliffs and lived, and now I was one of the only three rangers from southern Fiore to not be captured. It certainly wasn't an assigned mission, but I kicked the crap out of the obstacles presented to me that day. And for once, someone wasn't yelling at me for screwing everything up. I couldn't help but smile. I rarely got the opportunity to feel this proud of myself.

"I would help patch you up with the first aid kit in my backpack, but it seems like someone has discarded it," Murph said through clenched teeth.

"You would have drowned," I replied. He sighed.

"Well I guess I should say thank you for saving my life," he said. "And I should also say 'fuck you' for putting it in danger in the first place, but-"

"How do you think Solana is doing?" I blurted out. I tried my best to fight it, but I couldn't help making it sound like my voice was cracking. Murph got quiet. "I mean, she was in Fall City General Hospital when those guys showed up. Do you think they took her too?" It had been eating me from the back of my mind since she was airlifted to Fall City. No one had told me anything about her condition, and I couldn't help but feel worried about one of the few people on the planet who gave a shit about me.

"I think she's fine," Murph said in the most comforting tone of voice he could muster. "I heard that she was in stable condition when she left Summerland, and after a few hours with the tech at Fall City she was awake and alert. I think they might have been ready to release her when those guys showed up." I tried to respond with a sigh of relief, but it came out ragged. I was still in a lot of physical pain. "Don't worry, man. I'm sure she's fine."

"Yeah," I croaked. "I just, I don't know. I guess I still blame myself for what happened to her."

"You shouldn't. You aren't the reason she got hurt, and anyone would have done what you did in that situation."

"But I destroyed that temple, I-"

"Again, anyone would have done that to save a comrade. Spencer's not here to yell at you, man. You did the right thing. You should feel damn proud of yourself. I know I am." I smiled, and I could feel a warmth in my chest. Slow as he was, Murph always knew what to say to make me feel better. "Try and get some rest. You're injured and you've been going all day. Plus we still have to walk to Wintown when we land."

"Okay," I whispered. "Thanks, Murph."

I tried to nap, but every wave that rocked lapras sent a shiver of pain through my body. My adrenaline rush had finally worn off, and _everything_ hurt. I had to regulate my breathing because if I took too deep a breath my chest would burn. I didn't dare move; I had pushed my body too far that day and I was finally paying for it. It took about an hour to get to where we were to meet up with Percy, and my condition did not improve on the way.

Percy was waiting for us at the entrance of the cave. The entire inlet was made of sheer stone faces, save for the small platform where he was waiting for us. A rickety wooden staircase led up to Lyra forest; it would have been a much easier, safer way to get there had Murph and I not been pursued. The water was still deep next to the stone clearing, so lapras was able to pull right up to shore.

Murph effortlessly leapt from lapras' shell to shore. I struggled to get up—every muscle in my body protested. Even though we were barely two feet from shore, I had to put a tremendous amount of strength into jumping. Despite my best efforts, I slipped on the stone surface and fell into the deep water.

My immediate instinct was to swim back to the surface, but it seemed like my legs wouldn't respond. I tried to kick—nothing. I couldn't even move my arms, which floated limply above my head as I sank. I could only watch the light from the surface fade as I floated helplessly towards the bottom.

Once again, lapras swam below me and scooped me out of the water, lifting me with its head. Murph and Percy pulled me onto shore and laid me on my back. My breaths were shallow and quick, because every one felt like a stab in the lungs. An overall ache now felt like every single vein in my body was burning.

"Buddy? Are you okay?" Murph asked with concern. Percy put his hand to my forehead.

"He's pale, and he has a fever," he said. "Has he been injured lately?"

"Uh, yeah, those guys with the super stylers got him." Percy immediately got to checking my wounds on my chest, wrist and neck. He only reacted when he got to the wounds around my ankles.

"Shit," he hissed. "He's been poisoned."

"Guys," I groaned, trying my best to get their attention.

"Well, fuck! What do we do?"

"I can't really suck the poison out of a wound like that- not like it would matter at this point. We need to get him the antidote."

"Guys…"

"Is he going to die?!"

"I don't know, but I don't want to take that chance. We have to move now, or-"

I gathered all of my strength and endured the burning pain, just so I could lift up my arm and point. "The cliff!" While they had been worrying over me, I was watching as the villains had gathered on the ridge and discovered our location. A few were already making their way down the staircase.

"Shit. Shit shit shit." Murph grabbed me under the arms and started moving towards the cave. Percy grabbed me around the knees, and we all dashed for the entrance of the cave. Lapras reeled back in rage and shot an ice beam at the stairs. There were no guard rails on the damn things, so a few of them slipped off and fell to the stone below—not fatal, but less chasing us.

My heart reached out for the lapras. It had saved my life twice that day, and now it was buying us time to escape. I hadn't even said thank you—maybe once? —but certainly not enough. And now that it was staying behind to battle, it was probably going to get captured. I wished to call out, to thank it again, but I couldn't find the strength to.

I felt like my head was in a vice. With my body stretched between my two companions, the pain was agonizing. I knew it was necessary to escape, but I had never been in such pain in my life. If I had a choice right that second to either end the pain or not get captured, I honestly would not be able to choose. Admittedly, the next events were blurred due to the magnitude of suffering I was in.

The cave was dimly lit by exposed light bulbs that lined the walls of the cave in the same manner as Krokka tunnel. This is probably because this tunnel passed underneath Krokka tunnel- there was probably some loop-around way of getting to it from this cave. Percy and Murph huffed as they ran, and I could do nothing but hang there and moan. I hated being helpless, I _hated_ it, but I would much rather be helpless in the hands of friends than enemies. The voices of our pursuers echoed through the cave behind us.

As the cave began to turn downwards, we were hit with a wall of cold. We all simultaneously realized that this was one of those caves that was deep enough underground and received the mountain wind in just the right way that the whole thing was eternally covered in ice. My still-damp clothes didn't help a bit. This was the exact moment that the chills kicked in. Having the chills and a fever is a strange sensation, and certainly not a pleasant one.

In all of his wisdom, Murph nigh immediately slipped on the icy cave floor, pulling us all down the slope with him. I slipped around like a ragdoll, unable to move. They both cried out and scrambled to stop the descent, and I just kind of bumped into things like a sad, limp pinball game. We finally slid to the bottom of the slope, where all walls of the cave were coated with ice. I was already shivering from the chills, and any heat from my fever was quickly snuffed out.

"Come on, we have to move!" Percy was the first to stand up and run ahead. Murph grabbed me under the arms again and dragged me after him. I groaned in protest. The voices from the cave grew louder—they were growing near to the incline we had just slid down.

Percy was digging through a mountain of fallen ice. Either through a temperature change or an impact, huge sheets of thick ice had fallen from the ceiling and wall of the cave, leaving them bare stone. Percy pulled aside a chunk of ice and exposed an area where a sheet of ice had fallen against a wall, making a tiny, tent-like cave.

"Quick, get inside," he said. Murph sat down and scooted inside, dragging me with him. He backed up against the wall and laid my head on his lap. The ground was still frigid, but there was nothing I could do about it. Percy entered too, pushing my legs to the side, and pulled the chunk of ice into the entrance.

The voices grew clearer, accompanied by the barking of dog Pokémon, undoubtedly to sniff out our hiding place. I was hurt and scared, and I couldn't help but let out a whimper. Murph shushed me. He hugged me under the arms and around the chest—not aggravating my wound, but restricting my breathing. He buried his face in my shoulder. He was shaking, and I assumed not from the cold—he was just as scared as I was.

There was a scratching at the entrance of our hiding place as a dog Pokémon tried to dig through the ice pile. I opened my eyes enough to see Percy hunched over, his hands clasped to his chest, lip trembling. If they were to find us, he would be the first one they would grab. He was older and more knowledgeable than Murph or me, but he was so scared he seemed like a child.

We heard a galloping noise outside, and then the scratching at our door was replaced by the whimpering of a fleeing dog pokémon. A deep battle cry echoed through the cavern.

"What?"

"Stop him!"

The shout continued, and we could hear crashing noises outside. We couldn't see, but it sounded like whoever had just arrived was walloping the shit out of the bad guys. From the crashing, it sounded like people and pokémon were being thrown against walls, and ice was clattering to the ground. My head was swimming, so I couldn't tell you how long this battle went on. But after a while, the footsteps of our fleeing pursuers faded away to silence.

"They're gone," A deep, man's voice said. "It's safe." Percy glanced at us, and then pushed the chunk of ice that closed us in, opening the cave.

"Uh," Percy said in a trembling voice, "Lunick's hurt. Really bad. He's been poisoned." The man grunted, as if to say 'let me see'. Percy reached for me, but Murph held me tighter. "Murph, hand him to me, come on." I could still feel him shaking. Something warm touched my face and I looked up. Tears were dripping out of his eyes, and his grip did not loosen. "Murph, come on, he's here to help us," Percy continued. "Elita sent him to meet us here. Uh, Chris, right?" I can only assume the man nodded. "Yeah. Come on, he's going to help Lunick, but you have to let go."

Slowly, Murph's grip loosened. He gently turned me around so Percy could grab me under the shoulders and pull me out of the hiding place. I was barely lucid, so I didn't really mind being handed around like an object. When I was out in the open, Chris took my pulse. He was a huge man- his thumb and finger easily wrapped around my wrist. He grunted and stood up. He walked over to his partner Pokémon—a stantler that was wearing carrying bags. Chris took a piece of paper and pen out of the bags, wrote a short note on it, and placed it in a pouch around the creature's neck. He then took a blanket out of the pack and directed stantler to run back to town. Chris wrapped my limp body in the blanket and held me in his arms.

"Let's go. Hurry," he directed, following where the stantler had gone. I hung limp in his arms. Any pain I had before had gotten worse. It took all of my strength to even breathe, and it hurt to even think about moving on my own. Tears leaked out of my eyes, and I was whimpering uncontrollably—it was the only noise other than our footsteps.

"Hey bud," Murph said with a strained voice. I opened my eyes just a bit so I could see him. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. Just- please be okay. Promise you'll make it through this, all right? Please don't die on me." He was crying too at this point. I wanted to assure him that I would do my best not to die, but the most I could do was a whimper that was slightly louder and longer than the others.

After a while of walking, I have no idea how long, the stantler returned with three more stantler-drawn sleds in a tow, each carrying more rangers. A medic took me out of Chris's arms and into a heated medical bag on one of the sleds. I was not happy about how it restricted me, and I was even more upset when they put my head in a brace and strapped me to the sled. I responded with loud moans of fear. I know that sounds _totally_ cool, but I wasn't exactly in a competent state of mind.

That was about the time everything went numb. Even in my reduced mental state, I knew that wasn't a sign of anything good. I vaguely remember hearing Murph's voice before the sled took off. Despite the numbness, every bump and turn the sled took triggered a wave of overwhelming pain through my body. And after hours of struggling, this was when my consciousness finally flickered out.


	8. Blind Bravery

I must say, I wasn't thrilled to wake up in a hospital bed with a bunch of tubes in my arms. I mean, who likes needles? I had to force myself to stay calm and not disturb the tubes. Still, it was pretty nice to not be in pain, and also not dead.

I looked around. I was in a small room with other empty medical cots around. Gray walls, tile floor—it looked like the interior of a ranger base clinic. I sighed in relief. It looked like we had made it to Wintown after all.

It wasn't too long before a woman in a lab coat walked in. She seemed more preoccupied with reading whatever was on her clipboard than with me, but I only had to quietly mutter 'um' to get her attention.

"Aha! You're awake!" she exclaimed happily. She came over to stand next to my bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Butter, uh, better," I stuttered. "Um, what happened?"

"Venonat venom," she replied. "Nasty stuff. It won't kill you, but you'll wish you were dead, am I right?" I nodded. I had never been in so much pain. I shifted a little bit, just to make sure it was all gone. My muscles were still a bit sore, my throat hurt from the salt water, and my wounds had been bandaged up, but overall it was tolerable.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Only a few hours," she replied. "The antidote clears everything up pretty quickly."

"And my friends? They're-"

"Yeah, they're outside. If you're feeling up to it, I can send them in now."

"That would be great," I replied. "Also, um, I'm a bit thirsty?"

"No problem," the doctor said with a smile. "I'll send them in with a glass of water." She closed the door behind her when she left. I spent the few minutes I had to myself going over my blurred memories. The poison made it hard to tell what exactly had happened, but I pretty distinctly remembered Murph being very upset. I knew it was kind of dumb, but I hoped they were both okay too.

I grinned as they both walked through the door. Percy was smiling too, but Murph was just overflowing with emotion. He ran to my cot and hugged me around the neck- right on my injury.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Murph. Ow. Murph, I can't breathe, ow, ow, let go," I said, despite being half-strangled by him. I limply clawed at his back to try and make him let go.

"Don't… _do_ that, man!" he choked out. "I thought I was going to lose my best friend." He finally loosened his embrace.

"Well, you scared me too when I had to resuscitate you," I replied. "Although, I was the one that threw you off the cliff in the first place," I laughed.

"Yeah, Murph got me all caught up on what you guys did today," Percy chimed in. "Like, damn. You did some pretty crazy stuff- what rank even are you?"

"Uh, still rank one," I replied with a shrug.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeaaaah, Spencer kind of hates us for no reason," Murph put in.

"I wouldn't doubt it, coming from him," another voice said from the doorway. It was Elita, the leader of Wintown, and she had brought me my cup of water. She had seemed cold over the video phone, but she felt much warmer in person. "Spencer is an arrogant bastard, and he has been since we left the academy. He's been on a power trip ever since he was made the leader of Ringtown. You have a lot of potential, Lunick. He must be too blind to see that." I smiled. It was a rare day that I got a compliment on being a ranger.

"Thank you," I replied, blushing.

"You can all sleep in this room tonight, if you'd like," she continued. "You should all rest up. We've got international aid coming tomorrow to help with our situation, and I've got an important job for you all. Sleep well."

"Goodnight."

The doctor was right when she said the antidote cleared everything up quickly—I was able to stand on my own almost immediately. We all showered, and the Wintown rangers got us hot meals and new uniforms. We didn't go to sleep right away. Murph and I chatted with Percy to learn more about him. He had apparently left his partner pokémon in Summerland to defend the town just as slowpoke had. Talking was nice and relaxing, sleepover-esq.

But after we turned off the lights, I was kept awake with my worries. Sure, we had dry beds and warm meals, but how were the other rangers faring in captivity? I wondered if they were being kept in cells or cages, or if any were hurt, or if they had been fed, or worst of all, if they were still alive. I had experienced first-hand the murderous tendencies of those four kids—would they even bother keeping the other rangers alive? I thought that my worries would keep me up, but I was thoroughly exhausted and fell asleep with ease.

In the morning we all suited up and met with Elita and the doctor downstairs in the main room. Other Wintown rangers were busy, so she directly addressed the three of us.

"As I told you last night, I have an important mission for the three of you," she began. "I'm worried for the well-being of the rangers in captivity, so I have devised a plan to get them help."

"Without Lunick, we never would have known that the poison used in the super styler built-in poké assist was venonat venom," the doctor chimed in. "But since Wintown has a medical supply depot, we were able to get loads of the stuff. The venom won't technically kill you, but if left to its devices long enough it can wreak havoc on the victim's nervous system. They'll probably be okay, but it would be best to get them medication as soon as possible to ease their suffering."

Elita continued. "This is where you come in. We need some way to smuggle the antidote to those injured inside. This is your mission: you are to carry the antidote secretly to those held prisoner, by being captured yourselves."

I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up. I couldn't hold attention and put my hands on my knees, bending over to breathe. Murph put his arm on my back and gave me a comforting rub.

"I know this isn't what you wanted to hear after working so hard to evade them yesterday. But after hearing of your exploits, I believe you are more than capable of taking on this mission," she continued. "And we're not just sending you out into the dark- we've narrowed down their location to the Sekra mountain range, near the Fiore Temple. You'll be wearing tracking devices as well to better guide our actions. International aid is coming today, and we're hoping to mount a rescue mission by the end of the day. Odds are you won't even be stuck in there for 24 hours."

My breathing was ragged as I tried to calm myself down. Murph continued to comfort me, but I'm sure he could feel me shaking. Percy was still at attention, but with his jaw clenched—he wasn't any more excited about this mission than we were.

"I should also mention that if you accept this mission you will all be immediately promoted to ranger rank 10," she added, sensing our worry.

"Are- are you even allowed to do that?" Murph stuttered.

"I am damn well allowed to do that!" she responded. "Plus, after your performance yesterday, you are all more than worthy. But my main reasoning is that ranger rank 10 unlocks all of the capabilities the styler has—all of the assists, longer capture line, maximum partner pokémon- and you'll need those abilities for this mission."

"I accept," Percy said clearly and forcefully. He was obviously not thrilled with the concept of the mission, but could see its necessity.

"Thank you," Elita said softly. "And Murph? How about you?"

"I'll go if Lunick does."

"I see. Lunick?"

I still felt sick. Last night I was finally relieved to be out of danger, and now I wasn't so much being thrown back into it as being asked to walk into the arms of the enemy- willingly! I was certainly not in any shape to give her an answer yet.

"Lunick," she repeated. I looked up, and she was kneeling down as to be eye level with me. I could see the mother in her expression. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. I chose the three of you for this mission because your comrades are the ones in there, and I assumed you would want to at least see how they're doing. And, um," she stuttered, looking away nervously, "please don't see this as me trying to manipulate you, but if you accept this mission, I give you permission to rub it in Spencer's stupid face."

Murph laughed loudly at this. I smiled a little bit and chuckled nervously. I knew she was waiting for my answer, so I took a strained breath and replied.

"I'll do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." No. Arceus, no. But I knew that part of being a ranger was doing things you really didn't want to do, even if you were scared. And she had made several good arguments. Sure, this mission wasn't a million percent necessary, but narrowing down the location of the prisoners and smuggling in first aid was an important need. The way Murph had responded made my yes two yesses, and they needed all the help they could get. I was also probably thinking that the three of us wouldn't be of much use anyway sitting at the ranger base doing nothing. All of these reasons led to me saying yes, but if I had said no, it would have prevented so much trouble in the future.

The other rangers helped outfit the three of us for the mission. The antidotes and first aid supplies were strapped into a black vest to be worn under the clothes. The antidote was to be delivered with several syringes—not the preferred method of treatment, but the best we could do under the circumstances. The tracking devices were tiny chips that we each wore on the insides of our socks. And just as Elita had promised, we were all promoted to ranger rank 10—the highest rank there is, other than leader. She gave us another motivating speech (I spaced out and missed it) and sent us on our way.

The mountain path was drier and warmer than the icy cave we used to get to Wintown, but the air was still brisk. The foliage along the way up the mountain was gorgeous- laurel bushes and coniferous trees lines the way, and when the forest fell away in the thin air, it exposed a view of all of Fiore—we could see all the way to Summerland from there! A winding creek, clear as crystal, traced the trail. The pokémon along the way were peaceful and lax; there wasn't a lot of trouble on the way up the mountain, not even a trace of the villains.

Despite the beautiful surroundings and constant reassurance from my friends, I couldn't calm down. The climb was already difficult, despite my reluctance. My healing injuries crippled my movement, and I still ached from the trek the day before. As we climbed higher the air grew thinner, and we had to take more frequent breaks. We made sure to get up the mountain in good condition—we drank plenty of water, took breaks, Murph even managed to bring some snacks. And even though my weaknesses weren't intentionally slowing us down, I was glad we didn't rush. I was certainly in no hurry to get there.

The terrain became dangerous near the peak. The road ended, and the only way we could proceed was a series of rickety rope bridges and with the help of pokémon. When we reached a waterfall, it became apparent that there were two ways to go forward—one near the top, on the ridge, and another further down near the tops of the trees below. Our group split up here- Percy took the lower path, and Murph and I took the upper.

As we climbed, we rapidly ran out of places we could search for the hideout. But the thing that most worried me was the lack of patrols. I just figured we would get captured on the way there—we wouldn't have to actually _find_ the place. The path was dotted with ancient ruins, but no signs of any recent human activity. We finally came to a ridge. It was covered with thick vines and therefore climbable, and the path didn't seem to lead anywhere else. Murph and I looked at each other, shrugged, and climbed all the way up to the top.

When we reached the top of the plateau, we knew we had found the place. The area was flat, and there were several helicopter-like carrying vehicles parked there, similar to the one I had seen just outside of Fall City. Otherwise, the area was deserted. And a giant boulder stood in the middle of the airfield. Murph laughed as we walked across towards it.

"It's almost like they wanted to hide the entrance," he giggled, "but they parked all these things around like its normal. And even if those weren't here, why on earth would anyone suspect the _giant freaking boulder_ on an otherwise flat surface?" We walked up to the boulder, and when Murph saw a shiny red button on the side of it, he lost it. We had to rest a minute so he could get all laughed out. I managed to smile for him. Yeah, their ineptitude at hiding their 'secret' base was laughable, but I still felt nauseous. This was it—we were handing ourselves over to these terrible people. For the greater good, of course, but still.

"Well, are you ready?" Murph asked. I couldn't help but shake my head no and hug myself tightly. Visions of being captured were filling my head: I could feel them grabbing my wrists and forcing them behind my back, and being pushed against a wall, and being dragged off to who-knows-where, and maybe being tortured with those super stylers, and Arceus forbid they just kill us and get it over with. I crumpled and knelt on the ground, but Murph was immediately at my side.

"Hey, bud, it's alright," he said, trying to comfort me. He grabbed under my arm and helped me stand again. "Come on, come on, you gotta be brave now," he said, softly slapping the side of my face to try and snap me out of it. I tried to push the visions down and looked him in the eye. "Elita's going to come rescue us, remember? We're not even going to be in there that long." I tried to say something in return, but all that came out sounded like a strangled sob. "They won't be too rough with us if we're just handing ourselves over, right? Come on, we have to go."

Murph reached out and pressed the button on the side of the boulder. The thing made a mighty whirring noise as what looked like a metal tube rose out of the ground. The tube opened into an elevator. Murph started to walk forward, but I struggled against him. It felt just like walking into a cage, and I was having none of it.

"It's okay, Lunick, I'm right here," Murph continued. He was gentle, but still continued to pull me towards the elevator. I like to imagine I would have fought harder to get away had it not been for Murph's comforting words. But he was persistent, and before I knew, the elevator doors had shut behind me like the jaws of some great animal.

With another whirr, the elevator began its descent into the villains' base. I had finally reached to point of terror where I could take a deep breath and force myself to stop shaking so hard. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that those elevator doors would open and we would immediately be set upon by these terrible people. I funneled my anxieties into anger—I was going to be captured, but I wasn't going down without a fight. I clenched my teeth and fists in anticipation as the elevator doors slid open once again.


	9. Sympathy

To my surprise, Murph and I did not have to immediately fight for our lives once the elevator opened. The lobby was empty, save for a teenage girl behind the reception desk. She was busy talking on a phone while doing her nails; she gave us a glance, and then shrugged—either to mean she didn't see us as a threat or they didn't pay her enough to care.

"Hey, what if we split up?" Murph whispered to me. "Maybe we could cause some confusion, wreak a little havoc before they bring us in. And maybe we could find where they're keeping the other rangers! Could you imagine Spenser's face if we busted everyone out of here?" Murph was grinning widely, almost bouncing up and down. The thought of fucking shit up enthralled him, and I wasn't going to take that away from him. Murph was the only thing keeping me calm at that point, but I wasn't assertive enough to say no. Instead, I gave him a half smile and a small nod.

Murph ran off down one hallway in leaps and bounds, knocking over whatever shelves he could and making a huge noise. I snuck off down the only other hallway from the lobby. It was narrow and empty, so I could hear every footstep I took clearly. Without Murph there to comfort me, the anxieties came flooding back. The thought of being captured once again crippled me, and I staggered down the hallway.

I heard footsteps running down the hallway and was gripped with fear. I thought I was going to freeze in the face of danger once more, but I forced myself to either fight or flee. There was a small alcove up ahead that seemed to be used as a makeshift storage closet. It held a metal cart and several stacks of cardboard boxes, along with a few papers and mechanical bits lying around sloppily. I dashed towards the pile and managed to squeeze myself behind the wheeled cart before the villains came rushing around the corner.

I must have been well hidden and moderately stealthy, because they ran right past. I fixed myself into a corner and hugged my knees to my chest, being very careful not to make any noise. More people ran by, and I could hear them saying something about an intruder. Murph had made it glaringly obvious that we had arrived, but I still didn't want to get discovered. I was practically suffocating trying to keep my sobs down.

The amount of time I spent hiding would best be described as 'disappointing.' Murph would have been ashamed of me. People passed by in the hallway without noticing my hiding spot. I didn't know if they were looking for me or just getting on with their business, but I was not inclined to move and alert them to my presence.

As time passed, I grew more confident in the quality of my hiding space and actually managed to calm myself down. Once I got a grip on my emotions, I started playing with the idea of maybe trying to find the prisoners. The tightness of the vest around my chest reminded me of the reason I was here, and of the rangers that were suffering the same effects of poison I had. And that made me think of Solana. She had suffered so greatly, and it was still unknown if she had been captured too, and I did wish to see if she was all right. But the thought that actually got me to move was that of rescue. If I was hiding while the rescue team showed up, I could possibly be left behind, alone.

After ages of sitting behind those boxes, I could hear when someone was walking down the corridor for a decent distance. When all was quiet for a while, I slowly stood up and looked around. Empty. I slid out of the storage area and walked down the hallway. I stepped with the pinky toe first, then the outstep, then slowly the rest of my weight; this is how rangers were taught to walk quietly in the forests, and in retrospect it was a bit pointless given the situation, but I wanted to as quiet as possible.

When I reached a junction in the corridor, I pressed myself to the wall and observed all directions. Listening closely, I judged which direction might be most likely to have guards and went down the most deserted one. Every time I reached a shelf, a cart, or a pile of clutter, I took shelter, even if there was no one around.

"Hey!" I whipped around. A patrol had come out of another hallway and spotted me from behind. I gave up any chances of being stealthy and just ran. They were calling for backup on radios and were shouting at me to stop, but I ran as fast as I possibly could. In the back of my mind I knew running was pointless, but the fear of actually getting caught was greater and spurred me on.

I reached a three-way intersection and instantly saw another patrol down one direction, so I darted in the other. I was about to turn a corner when a man jumped out in front of me, ready to grab me. I scrambled to a stop and froze. Behind me and in front—there was no getting out.

I was first grabbed from behind in a bear hug and lifted into the air. They had grabbed me right where the wound around my chest was, and I screamed. Screaming was certainly a reaction to being captured, but aggravating my injury actually really freaking hurt, and I thrashed to try and get out of the person's grip.

"Hey, let go of him! Put him down!"

I was dropped back to my feet, but I was almost immediately grabbed by the back of my neck and wrist and pressed up against the wall. Once again, they had grabbed precisely where my wounds were, so I cried and wriggled to get out of their grip.

"Can't you see you're hurting him? Just stop- let go!" Finally, I was released and I fell to my knees. I could feel how close they were to me; their legs brushed against me as they stood over my huddled figure.

"I won't run!" I cried, not even able to hold back tears. "I won't try to get away, just please don't hurt me!" I wept, and honestly felt like a child.

A woman kneeled down beside me and put a hand on my shoulder. A few inches closer to my neck, and she would have felt the vest under my clothing.

"Hey, sweetie," she said softly. "Let me see that." She reached for my bandaged wrist. I would have pulled away, but she was being exceedingly gentle, so I allowed it. "Someone got you with one of the super stylers, huh?" I whimpered in response.

"How they promoted you to admin, I'll never know," one of the voices overhead said.

"It's because of stuff like this," she snapped up at him. "When the plan goes into motion, we're going to need people in charge that are good at public relations. Can't you see how scared this kid is? He's not a threat."

Whatever power she wielded seemed to shut him right up. She turned back to me, and took out a strip of cloth. When she reached for my wrists I moaned in protest, but her soft reassurances convinced me to go along with it. She bound my hands, but further up my arm and gently enough to not aggravate my wound while still restraining me.

The woman helped me to my feet. I kept my head lowered so I wouldn't have to show my tears to the small crowd I had gathered. She held me by the arm and began to lead me down the hallway. I was lightheaded from the crying and staggered a bit, but she held me steady. A few of the cronies followed up to provide assistance if needed, but I had no intention of running. This was the plan, right? Still, I felt confused. I thought getting captured would be a much more traumatizing experience.

"Wh-" I stuttered, trying to keep my voice level, "why are you doing this?"

"What?" the woman responded, her voice still soft and caring.

"You're so kind, b-but you're here. This organization, it does such terrible things. W-why are you here?"

"I can't speak for everyone here," she whispered, "but I just really needed the money. By the time I realized what terrible things were going on, I was in too deep. They won't just let you just leave here. But hey, I can use my position to help people like you, right?" I sniffled in response and leaned against her. "Well, here we are."

We approached a wall made of jail bars. Inside was a deep room that was only lit by the lights in the outside hallway. Inside, I could see the huddled forms of the captured rangers. Some leaned against walls, or lay on the floor, or paced with worry, but all were silent when we approached. One of the lesser grunts that followed us there got to unlocking the cell door while the kind woman untied my wrists. He slid the door open, and I walked in of my own will. The sound of the cell door sliding shut and the lock clicking seemed even louder and more ominous in my mind. It was the final defeat of my freedom; now I was truly their prisoner.

Murph almost immediately walked up to greet me.

"Hey, you lasted longer than I did," he said with a smile. I felt a pang of guilt. I didn't have the heart to tell him how much of that time I had spent hiding. He had a few bruises on his face, probably from the magnificent fight he put up. I hadn't realized up until this point, but I really admired the bravery Murph had during this whole ordeal.

"Any sign of Percy?" I asked.

"Not yet."

"Where's Solana?"

"Oh she's…" Murph trailed off, looking towards one of the walls. Further into the room, I could see her slumped against the wall by herself. I ran over to her. Her eyes were closed, and she was very still. For whatever reason, I assumed the worst.

"Solana? Solana, wake up, please," I half shouted, shaking her shoulders. She woke up immediately.

"Huh? Wha- what's going on?" I sighed in immense relief. "Lunick, what're you- why are you in here?"

"Y-you're okay?" I stuttered.

"Yeah, jeeze I was just taking a nap," she answered, sitting up straight. I couldn't help but smile. It felt like a great weight had been lifted off me. I was just so glad that she was safe and unhurt. She seemed to feel the same way, and reached out to hug me around the neck. Unfortunately, she squeezed me on the wound around my neck, and I hissed in response. She immediately let go.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She reached for the bandages around my neck but I hid them with my right hand. This didn't deter her, though—she just grabbed that hand to inspect the bandage on my wrist. "They got you too?"

"It wasn't that bad," I muttered.

"That bad? You almost died!" Murph put in, walking over to us. "Those four kids used all of their stylers on him at once, and then he ran all the way back to Ringtown while injured, and he threw us off the cliffs to get away. Then we had to drag him through the ice caves because he was immobilized by poison…"

Solana was awestruck. She looked to me, her mouth open. I looked down, away from her gaze. Arceus, I just wanted Murph to stop talking. I truly believed that the torture she went through was worse than mine, no matter how true or untrue it may have been. I didn't want it to seem like my experiences made hers invalid.

"Oh, Lunick," she whispered, reaching for me. Instead of hugging my neck, she grabbed my cheeks and pulled me closer so our foreheads touched.

"By the way, speaking of poison," Murph jumped in again. I looked to him. "They completely strip-searched me before they put me in here. They found everything—even the tracking chip in my sock! I must've made them pretty mad," he laughed.

"Well they didn't get mine," I said, reaching for the bottom of my shirt. I pulled my shirt off and Murph helped the get the supplies-laden vest off of me. He took it to the back of the cell where the injured were so he could start administering the antidote.

I felt almost like smuggling in these supplies was a betrayal of that kind woman's trust. She assumed I was harmless, but I was really trying to smuggle things to the prisoners. Although, these supplies were for the welfare of the other rangers, and wouldn't assist in any escape or put her job in jeopardy.

Solana stopped me as I tried to put my shirt back on. She gently touched my chest where the bandages wrapped around. I noticed tears in her eyes, so I quickly slipped my shirt on to hide my injuries.

"I didn't want you to go through that too," she said, her voice quivering.

"I'm fine, Solana, really, I'm fine-" but my voice broke on the last word. And in that moment, I could tell that she knew how scared I was to be there, and how hurt I had been, but also how relieved I was to see her again. She put her hand on my cheek and pulled me near her. The moment was intimate—her cool hand against my warm cheek, our bodies close. I deeply cared for her safety, and she showed that she cared for me as well. As dire as our circumstances were, I wished that moment would last.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised to see you here," said a familiar voice. I cringed and looked up. Spenser was standing over us with a smirk on his face. "I thought you might've gotten away from them, but no, here you are."

"Oh, piss off," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?!" I glared up at him and stood to meet his gaze. I don't know what had inspired this courage, but I was finally sick of putting up with Spenser's abuse.

"I'm here because Elita assigned me a mission to smuggle medical supplies in here. So you're welcome, you ungrateful prick!" Spenser's face turned red with rage. Whatever muttering in the cell fell to a stop as everyone listened to our fight.

"Ungrateful? Y-you're the one who's ungrateful, you little-"

"That fact that I'm even here is one of my successes staring you in the face. What do you have to say about that?"

"There aren't enough antidotes for everyone. Now some can be cured while the others suffer. Do you want to be the one to make that decision?"

"There were supposed to be three of us smuggling in supplies, and in case you hadn't noticed, where Murph failed _I_ succeeded. Would you rather everyone go without?"

"Even if you were smuggling in supplies, I don't see how you getting captured by the enemy and being put out of commission is helping our cause."

"But I didn't get captured until just now! While you were all getting hauled here, I managed to make it back to Ringtown, get Murph and me out of harm's way by jumping off the Ringtown cliffs, and safely to Wintown, all while critically poisoned! While you, what? Got captured? Great job at that, by the way."

"I don't need to take this from you! You've always had a problem with insubordination-"

"Insubordination? Like when?"

"You were under direct orders to not complete the temple's fourth challenge-"

"Oh, screw you! You know I had to do that to save Solana! You would have done the same, and if not, why don't you tell her that? She's sitting right there, look her in the eye and tell her that you would have let her been tortured." That one seemed to shut him up. Every argument of his that I shut down made my confidence grow, and him angrier. But Spenser wasn't giving up just yet.

"It's not just following orders, it's- you're always screwing things up! You were assigned to escort Professor Hastings safely, and yet he ended up in the hospital-"

"It was an ambush! We were separated and attacked- there was nothing to be done! All things considered, I did manage to bring him back alive!" There was a glint in Spenser's eye as he roared his next response.

"Professor Hastings is dead!" Whatever foundation my spontaneous confidence was built on dropped out. "Not only did that event in Krokka Tunnel let the super styler fall into the hands that put us in this situation, Hasting's lungs were damaged in the attack. He was on assisted breathing in the hospital, but they took him off when they hauled him and Solana into this cell. So while you and Murph were frolicking about in the woods, we all got to sit here and listen to him suffocate to death!"

I hadn't realized just how much that attack had cost the rangers, and now Spenser had pointed the finger of blame at me, in front of all of the other prisoners. I hadn't really noticed before, but it was now glaringly obvious that there was one figure in the back of the cell that was covered by a sheet. I crumpled, and backed down. His expression was solemn and angry, but the glint in Spenser's eye was that of glee—he was delighted to have put me back in my place. I returned to Solana's side and rested my head on her shoulder.

"I bet you feel much better now," I heard Murph say. His voice was clear, but quivering with anger. Unlike me, Murph wasn't afraid to get up in Spenser's face. "Tearing him down must make you feel like a big man. Well done."

"Like you're any better," Spenser spat.

"That's just the thing- I'm not! I'm not a good ranger, and I know that! The difference is that Lunick is damn good at what he does!"

"As if you could judge that!"

"I don't see how you could judge anyone's skill with your head that far up your ass!"

That one must have hit a nerve, because next thing I knew Murph and Spenser had grabbed each other, trying to push the other around. Solana grabbed my head to try and protect my face in case the tussle came too close. There were shouts as the other rangers tried to get out of the way as the two fought, but Cameron's voice soon silenced them all.

"Break it up! Hey- cut it out!" He forced himself between Spenser and Murph. "We're all stressed. Don't take it out on each other!" Spenser glowered at Murph, and then stalked off further into the cell. Cameron gave Murph a sympathetic gaze before also returning to where he sat before.

Murph walked over and sat down next to me, putting an arm on my shoulder. I was glad that Murph had stood up for me, even if there was unnecessary drama. Solana stroked my hair.

"He didn't blame you, you know," she said softly. "Professor Hastings, I mean. We were sharing a hospital room, and boy was he a chatterbox. He said he didn't blame you for what happened, and even though he was upset that the bad guys got the super styler, he was glad he didn't die in that cave and he got to say goodbye to his family. You did good, Lunick."

"But if they didn't get the super styler we wouldn't even be here!" I choked out between tears.

"No! No no no, Lunick," Solana said, putting both her arms around me and pulling my head into her lap. But no matter what she tried to say, I couldn't get the fact out of my head that we were all prisoners because of me. Maybe if I had just left the professor behind to pursue those villains, we wouldn't be in that mess.

"Bud, it could have been anyone," Murph said softly. "Spenser could have chosen any one of us to escort the professor, and even if they didn't get the styler, they would have tried again somewhere else. It was just bad luck that it was you."

His point made me calm down a little, but I still cried into Solana's leg. I just cried and cried, if only to let out my frustrations, until I could cry no more. My abdomen hurt from the sobs. And once I was exhausted, I was able to relax just a little bit. As dire as our circumstances were, I was glad my friends had my back and were there with me.


	10. Oathbreaker

I don't know how many hours passed, but there was still no sign of Percy. I tried to nap on Solana's lap, but my anxieties kept me awake. The three of us were silent, as were the rest of the rangers save for little muttering. The rangers that were previously immobilized by poison started to wake up and weakly look around. They would probably never know that I was the one that brought the antidote.

I heard a skittering, clanking noise from the hallway and looked. A scizor stalked in the hallway, glancing into the cell at all of the captured rangers.

"Wha?" I mumbled, in my half-awake state.

"Oh, it comes around every once in awhile," Solana answered. "I think it's supposed to be guarding us. If anything, they're taunting us. That scizor could cut through those bars and let us all out, but they took away all of our stylers, so we can't get its help."

I absentmindedly grazed my hand along my waistline where my styler's holster was. I froze, and a wave of realization washed over me. Due to the chaos of capturing me and that kind woman's trust, they had neglected to confiscate my styler. I took it out of the holster and stared at it, as if I couldn't believe it was real. Solana gasped, perhaps too loudly. Other rangers heard and looked over, and when they realized what I had, chattered excitedly. A brief glimmer of hope flared up in the cell.

Spenser was upon me almost immediately.

"Give me that," he spat, grabbing at my styler. I twisted away and jumped to my feet as Solana and Murph held him back.

"No! It's mine, and I should use it!" I responded.

"We need to maximize our chances of success, so the most talented capturer should do it. Joel's been poisoned so he's out of commission, and you certainly don't fit that that description."

"No, I am skilled enough! I'm rank 10, see?" I flipped open my styler so he could see my newly bestowed rank. "You always say I'm not good enough, just let me prove myself!"

Spenser lunged at me, pushing past Murph and Solana. He wrapped one hand around my styler and twisted it up. With the other hand, he grabbed the front of my shirt and pressed me against the wall. My feet dangled off of the ground, and I was so stunned that I barely heard what he hissed in my ear.

"That styler is a chance for all of us to escape. I will have you arrested for criminal insubordination of you do not hand it over right now."

"Don't give it to him!"

"Spenser, get a hold of yourself!" The others tried to pull him off me, but he was strong and stayed firm. Once again, I faltered in the face of adversity and loosened my grip on the miracle device. Spenser twisted it out of my hand and backed off. Solana and Murph were immediately at my side to make sure I wasn't hurt.

The room tittered excitedly as Spenser approached the bars, facing the scizor. The creature glared at him and hissed. Spenser growled back at it and flipped the capture top out onto the floor. He didn't manage to make a quarter of a loop before the creature punched the top into the air, smashing it against the wall. From the cracking noise the top made, I knew the attack did a lot of damage. I had taken a few hits while I climbed up the mountain, so I knew it wasn't at full charge. Not to mention I was still at a low level relative to my rank, so the styler's charge capacity wasn't very high. The scizor only had to smash the top one more time before the styler was beeping frantically, signaling that the charge was very low.

Spenser shouted in frustration and raised my styler over his head, as if he intended to smash it on the ground. But before he could, Cameron wrenched it out of his hand. Spenser stomped to the back of the cell to sulk, as did the other spectating, hopeful rangers. When you're as attuned to emotions as a Pokémon ranger, you can tell when an entire room's hopes are crushed.

Cameron handed my styler back to me with sad eyes.

"Well, you might as well have a go at it now," he sighed quietly. He too returned to the back of the cell. I glanced at the styler—Spenser had left me one measly power unit, but at least he hadn't broken it completely.

"What are you going to do?" Solana asked. I looked at the scizor. It had an aggressive stance, and was hissing into the cell. I righted myself and approached it.

The Scizor hissed and spat at me as approached, and I knew exactly what it was trying to say.

 _What do you want, human?_

"I-" I stuttered, contemplating how exactly I was going to word this. "I need your help."

 _Of course you do. So did the other man. I see that device in your hand, you're just going to try and manipulate me, aren't you?_

"No! No, I-"

 _That's all humans are good at, aren't they? Just using Pokémon as tools._

"I'm a Pokémon ranger," I said softly but firmly. "We are dedicated to protecting and serving the people and Pokémon of Fiore."

 _You say that, but you're self-interested. When was the last time a human helped a Pokémon? My only experience with humans has landed me here, against my will!_

"Those are the bad guys, we're just trying to-"

 _Oh, you humans and your black-and-white morality,_ it almost seemed to chuckle. _Don't try to convince me, boy. You humans are all the same._ I took a deep breath.

"Look, I know you're scared and hurt. You've been abused by humans, and they've never cared about what you want."

 _I said enough!_ It made a half-lunge at me while snarling, trying to intimidate me. _Why should I listen to you, when humans have never listened to me?_

"Because I'm listening to you _right now._ " The scizor lowered its shoulders, relaxing its aggressive stance. "I hear you, and I know you feel betrayed. These people, they've used these stylers to force you to do things you don't want to do. But this styler I have here is different- I'm sure you felt it when the other guy was using it. It won't take your free will. _That's_ the difference between us humans. Please, let me help you." I reached through the bars, trying to touch it comfortingly. The scizor looked me in the eye.

 _How can I help?_

"Just hold still." Quick as a flash, I whipped the capture top out and drew a loop around the Pokémon. It didn't try to fight back, and one loop was all I needed. Capture complete.

With a few quiet clicks, the cell bars fell to the ground with a loud clatter. The ranger's styler cancelled out the effects of the super styler, but did not make it a friend Pokémon. It acted of its own free will helping us, and I didn't have to say anything for it to know it was free to go.

The rangers immediately mobilized, picking up the injured and moving out into the hallway. When Solana stood, her upper body movements were stiff. I hadn't noticed before, but it seemed like someone had given her the outer jacket of the ranger uniform to wear, but she was still barefoot and wearing a hospital gown.

Spenser stepped onto one of the cut bars and grabbed an intact one, pulling himself above the crowd.

"Everyone! Our priority is to get the injured to safety. Rangers rank 9 and up, come with me!"

I was walking by him as he jumped down and he looked at me.

"Spenser, I-"

"I said _competent_ rangers," he hissed. "You should help move the injured and _get out of my way._ "

Needless to say I was furious, and so were Murph and Solana. We watched as he led a group of high-level rangers away into the corridors.

"Did he not just see how you got us all out of there?" she said, exasperated. "We all saw that! How backwards do you have to be?"

"The man's an ass and we know it," Murph replied. "Let's prove him wrong. Let's cause a little more chaos, huh? Give these guys a cover so they can get out." For whatever reason, I agreed. I was mad, and probably not thinking straight, so I wanted to prove Spenser wrong. If I had been of sound mind, I would have fled with the others and left that horrible place. It wasn't long before the whole base was flooded with rangers and alarms were sounding.

The first thing the three of us did was find a charging station. The super stylers used the same charging mechanism as the regular ranger stylers, so mine was compatible. That way, as were sprinted through the halls and the bad guys set Pokémon on us, I was able to capture them, calm them down, and send them away. Still, there seemed to be no Pokémon that weren't under the control of the super stylers, and they wouldn't stick around to help assist me. That is, until we found where all of the rangers' partner Pokémon were being held.

Because of the special bond partner Pokémon have with their ranger, they were unable to be controlled by the super styler. So instead of using them as weapons, they had all been locked in small cages, in rows and rows in a spare storage room. Solana found her plusle nigh instantly and tried to calm it down, while I did my best to try and pry some of the cages open.

"Guys, wait! What about this?" Murph pulled a lever on the wall, and all of the cages opened at once. Solana and I had to cling to the cages as to not be swept away by the stampede. Murph and Solana whooped and hollered as the Pokémon filled the hallways, knocking down anything and anyone in their paths. We set out to create chaos, and chaos we made.

After Solana had plusle perched on her shoulder and Murph had slowpoke under his arm, we proceeded through the base. We never found where the confiscated stylers were, but my one styler was enough to defend the three of us from the low-level grunts. In retrospect, I should have fled the base as soon as possible. But I had my two best friends at my side, and I wanted to spite Spenser, so we travelled through the twisting hallways, freeing any subjugated Pokémon from their masters.

As we went deeper into the base, we came across less humans and more Pokémon. Some were being used as power generators, so we freed them to cut the base's infrastructure. We even came across a metagross that appeared to be working as a communications server. I captured it and took it along as a friend Pokémon, in case I needed to use a poké assist. While I was at it, I gathered a small parade of Pokémon to assist me should I need their help.

The halls were quiet, and the rooms seemed to be dormitory-style. The hallways were dark since we had cut the power, and I used my capture top as a light to guide the way. We turned a corner and the hall seemed to open up into a huge, cavernous room. I have to admit, having my friends with me gave me confidence, but they also apparently suppressed by intuition of when danger was near. Doors closed behind us, and a stage lit up, lighting one of those four kids that had attacked both me and Solana.

"I had a feeling I would be seeing you again, Lunick," the boy said with a smile. I really didn't even care that he knew my name.

His light hair was done up so it looked like he had two horns on his head. He wore a long, black jacket and carried an electric guitar. It wasn't the same Pokémon-controlling guitar he had back in the Krokka tunnel though—I had watched that one get destroyed. It still looked modified, though. Perhaps a new model? Still, I could see a standard super styler on his waist, and I prepared myself for if I needed to fight.

"You know, I don't know if we've all been properly introduced," he continued.

"Yeah, It would be nice to call you something other than 'those fuckers," Solana spat. Murph let out a chuckle. The boy didn't seem deterred—he almost seemed a bit amused.

"Anyway, you should at least know our names. I'm Billy, the oldest, and my siblings are Tiffany, Garret, and Clyde. Why don't you guys introduce yourselves?" He strummed a chord on his guitar."

"Ahh!"

"Hey!"

I whipped around. Solana had been snagged by a super styler capture line, and Murph by two. I saw a glint out of the corner of my eye and leapt in the air in time to avoid getting a capture line around my ankles. My styler was already out and I was ready to fight. Billy's top came at me again, but I wasn't holding back this time. I smashed my top into his again and again, without even giving him a chance to right himself. It shone through there that I was a skilled ranger, and he just a rock star wannabe. I crashed into his top just right so that it went flying off into the darkness of the massive room, effectively disarming him.

I turned back to my two friends. Solana was held by a boy of bulkier build, the one named Clyde. Her eyes were wide and her mouth open as she shook, frozen in place. She gazed off into the distance, and I could tell she was having flashbacks to her torture. That is, until the boy grabbed her around the waist and sniffed at her neck. Solana snapped out of it and immediately drove her heel into his foot. As he screamed, she pulled out of his grip but was still held by the capture line. Whenever he tried to pull her back in, she snarled and lashed at him, as if trying to bite him.

Murph was held by the other two siblings—the youngest, boy and girl, named Tiffany and Garret. They pulled him in two different directions, and he thrashed although they held him tight. I could see the fear on poor, brave Murph's face. He had seen firsthand what these four kids had done to me and Solana, and he was likely terrified of what they might do to him. It was that moment that I realized that of the three of us, he was the only one that didn't have scars wrapping around his body. And as the super stylers revved up their built-in poké assists, I knew that wasn't going to be true much longer.

What happened next was instinctual, although saying that to a jury might make my case worse. I signaled to metagross that I needed its assistance, and then simply pointed to my friends in need. The three siblings noticed it charging a hyper beam, and they were able to dive to the side. The beam lit up the room, and decimated the wall it had struck with a deafening explosion. Everyone was silent as the dust settled. It had distracted the kids so that Murph and Solana broke free, and they ran to my side. I was frozen in place, dumbfounded by what I had just done.

For the uninitiated, when a ranger joins the ranger force, they must take an oath. The most critical part of this oath is to never ever, under any circumstances, use a Pokémon as a weapon. No matter what the situation is or if you are attacking human or Pokémon, it could be treated as a crime. Some call it 'The Ranger's Oath' or 'The Primary Directive' or even 'A Forbidden Sin' it's so serious. Many people see it as the defining principle of what rangers are. It's so strictly enforced that it has superstition surrounding it; some believe that using a Pokémon as a weapon is a sign of corruption and will bring great tragedy

And I had just used a fucking Pokémon as a fucking weapon. My mind was rushing, trying to justify it in my head. I had acted without thinking, which was probably the worst fact of all. Why was my natural instinct to go against what was fundamentally what rangers are? It took Murph and Solana shaking me to bring me back to the world of the living.

"Well, a hearty congratulations for finally standing up for yourself," Billy said, giving a slow clap. I turned to face him. His siblings had picked themselves up off of the floor and stood beside him. I signaled to metagross again—this time that it was free to go. I released it to prove to them that I would never again do what I just did. "You know, you are a pretty good ranger. Would you maybe be willing to put on a show?" He strummed a riff on his guitar. The ground began to rumble beneath us. A gigantic tyrannitar emerged from the shadows, obviously enraged. "Oh, and don't worry. It's been directed to kill."

The tyrannitar tore up the earthen floor in a rampage, throwing rocks at me and my team of friend Pokémon. Murph and Solana retreated to safety, which I totally understood, I mean, I was the one with the styler. I directed my friend Pokémon to do whatever they could to help, but even through snarled vines to trip it and bubbles of water to confuse it, I simply could not get in enough loops to subdue the tyrannitar. I did, however, manage to get enough loops to lessen its blind rage and actually try to communicate with it.

"Tyrannitar! Please, what is causing your rage?" I called to it. I lashed at me with a mighty roar. "Please! I want to help you!"

 _I…_ I could hear it trying to call out, so I drew another loop around it. But that only seemed to make it madder, and it stomped on the ground in rage.

"Speak clearly so I can hear you, please!" I called out again.

 _I… I really hate guitar music!_

I pressed my lips together momentarily to keep from laughing. But within a second, I was back to serious face. Tyrannitar was a Pokémon known for making and communicating through earthquakes. The guitar's loud vibrations were probably what was confusing and enraging it.

"I'm not the one you want! That boy over there, he's the one with the guitar!" The tyrannitar momentarily stopped its rampage to turn to the four kids. Billy had been playing his guitar this whole time, because that was how he was controlling his Pokémon. It let out a mighty roar and stalked towards them.

"Stop! I'm commanding you to stop!" He shouted, playing a frantic riff on his guitar. It's didn't stop the approaching monster. I suddenly realized that if he had truly commanded this monster to kill, it probably would not hesitate to kill the one that was making the guitar music it hated so much. And I certainly didn't want to see the four of them slaughtered, so I called out to him.

"It's the guitar! Stop with the guitar!" Billy removed his hands from the instrument and let it just hang around his neck by the strap. He held his hands up so the tyrannitar could see he had stopped playing. The monster glared, growled at him, and then retreated into the darkness, to wherever it is Pokémon go once they've been released from a ranger's assistance.

The room stood silent. The floor was treacherous and torn to shreds. The four kids seemed speechless that I had saved their lives, even after what they had done to me and my friends. Murph and Solana ran to my side.

"Dude, you can talk to Pokémon," Murph said matter-of-factly. He wasn't asking a question- he was stating it as if it were true.

"No, I- no, I can't," I responded.

"Yes! I was going to say up with the scizor in the cell, but you really can! It's the only way we got out of that cell, and it's the only way you were able to calm that tyrannitar down. You didn't even complete that last capture! You just convinced it! With words!"

"I'm not that special, I'm sure," I mumbled.

"There are folk legends about people like you," Solana said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I certainly was embarrassed from the praise, but I also blushed because it seemed like I wasn't just a good ranger- there was evidence that I might be one of the best.

"I really wish you hadn't seen that," Billy mumbled from the crumpled stage. He and his siblings were spread about the stage, scattered from the attack.

"Yeah, you're welcome for saving your lives!" Murph shouted across the room at them. Took the words right out of my mouth.

"I think it's safe to say we shouldn't let this leave this room, right guys?" he said with a malicious grin, turning to look at his siblings. They seemed to know something we didn't and they all nodded and grinned in unison. Billy pressed a button on his Pokémon control guitar, which triggered a giant red button on a pedestal to rise from the stage. He walked up to it confidently, and with great flourish, pressed it down.

The ceiling lights in the hall turned on, lighting the whole place like an auditorium. The ground began to shake, and red warning lights began to blink. Alarms blared along with the haunting robotic phrase, "self-destruct sequence engaged."

"What the actual _fuck_?" Solana screamed at them. "We just saved your asses!"

"It's nothing personal," Billy went on. "We had orders from dad to destroy the place if anyone could overpower us." Clyde elbowed him sharply in the side. "I-I mean boss! The boss told us to self-destruct if something happened. No familial relation at all, haha! Anyway, later!" a platform on the stage descended, taking them into the ground, undoubtedly to an escape hatch.

"Come on! We have to get out of here!" Murph shouted, pulling me back towards the door we had entered through. Although they had closed behind us, we never really checked to see if they were locked. They weren't. Brilliant.

As the three of us ran back up the hallway, rattata and spinarak wriggled out of every orifice in the walls to also flee the collapsing base. Ceiling tiles fell around us. As we turned a corner, we came face-to-face with someone I hoped to not see until much later.

"What the hell is going on?" Spenser roared.

"Th-those kids, they activated the self-destruct sequence!" Solana squeaked. "We have to get everyone out!"

"Are you _fucking_ kidding me?" he shouted, looking directly at me. "I give you one job, and that is to get the fuck out of my way! You see what happens when you don't listen?" Once again, my disdain for him was snuffed out by guilt. It was probably true—if we hadn't confronted those kids, they might not have been forced to destroy the base.

"Spenser, I-" I stuttered softly.

"Do not fucking speak," he spat. "There's an emergency exit up the staircase behind me. I'm going to get everyone out of here. Get out of my way, and don't make me tell you twice." He rushed away, styler out in his hand. I was feeling that crushed feeling again were I knew that I was wrong, he was right, and I had fucked up big time. Murph grabbed my arm and gently tugged me up the stairs towards the emergency exit.

The emergency exit led out to a ledge along a cliff. Pokémon were pouring out of the exit and either running down the path or scrambling down the cliff face. We could hear massive, metallic sounds coming from inside the base.

"They need help! We should be in there!" Solana said indignantly.

"No, no, he's right," I responded. My voice croaked as I fought back tears again. "I fucked up. I really, really fucked up." I fell to my knees, and they were both beside me once again, trying to comfort me and urge me on. But as my friends were cooing over me, we saw a man rush out of the emergency exit. He wasn't an escaping ranger, and his clothes only vaguely resembled the uniform of the evil organization. He looked at us, scoffed, and continued running. We watched as he ran off, and instead of going down the mountain to the safety of Wintown, he ran up some ancient steps toward the Fiore Temple.

"Well that's suspicious," Murph muttered. Solana and I agreed. We knew we had messed up, but maybe we could still do some good. Without a word, we gathered ourselves and followed him up to the peak of the mountain.


	11. Summit

The air grew thin as we climbed to the top of the mountain. I was worried that Solana would be too cold (she was still wearing only the ranger uniform jacket and her hospital gown) but she seemed chipper and energetic. Murph was as well—he seemed to be glad to be out of that horrible place and out in the fresh air. Me, well, I was still being a huge downer. I worried about everything: what challenges lay ahead of us, the well-being of the injured rangers, and especially the tremors that continued to go off below our feet.

We rested at the top of the steps. The air was too thin for trees, but there were various crumbled ruins in the hillside. The wind was still, and the sun's rays warmed us. Slowpoke and plusle napped in some soft grasses. It was peaceful, and the view spanned all of Fiore and beyond. Murph took out snacks to share.

"Wait, didn't they strip search you?" Solana commented.

"Yeah, why?" Murph answered.

"…Where were you hiding these?"

"Oh, no, I picked these up while we were running around in the base. They were just lying around in people's rooms."

"Oh, Murph. We'll always know where your priorities lie," Solana joked. I munched with them, but I couldn't bring myself to joke along. This was easily the hardest day of my life, and I was experiencing too much emotion to just push it aside. Solana noticed that I seemed down. She came and sat next to me.

"What's bothering you, Lunick?" she asked, putting an arm across my back. I really didn't want to ruin their good mood, but she had asked.

"It's just… what happened in there. I violated the Ranger's Oath. Are we just not going to talk about that?" Both of them were quiet. Yep, mood ruined.

"I think that was one of those situations where it might have been okay," Murph said. "I mean, they didn't hesitate to use that tyrannitar to kill us, and you technically didn't hurt anyone."

"But I tried to! And the circumstances aren't supposed matter- you're never _ever_ supposed to do that!"

"Sometimes rules just need to be broken," Solana put in. "You weren't supposed to complete the temple's fourth challenge either, but I think your reasons were still justified." I looked into her eyes. "And for the record, I don't know if I ever thanked you for that. So, thank you, Lunick, for saving me."

"Yeah, me too," Murph jumped in. "I saw that you were looking at me before you directed metagross. You were trying to stop them before they hurt me. I'm the only one they haven't hurt yet, and I really, really appreciate what you did, no matter how 'illegal' it supposedly is." They were both still smiling, but only to try and comfort me.

"I committed a forbidden sin for both of you," I observed out loud.

"Then I guess we're just going to have to be friends forever then, huh?" Solana said, pulling me into a hug. My spirits felt elated for just a second, until we heard a roaring from further up the mountain. We turned to look, and saw that the top of the Fiore Temple was starting to gather great, dark storm clouds out of seemingly nowhere. Silently, we agreed that break time was over and it was time to see just what the hell was going on up there.

And as we climbed ever higher through the ruins, it became apparent that the villainous threat was not completely over. Those bastards were crawling all over, accompanied by their hypnotized Pokémon. Thanks to my experience with the scizor, I knew that a successful capture with my ranger styler would break the spell on these Pokémon and send them running. And having friends with me didn't hurt—there is safety and confidence in numbers, so I was able to actually face these horrible people.

The sky grew darker as we proceeded up the temple's central pyramid. I grew righteously anxious for what might wait at the top, and gathered a party of friend Pokémon. There were plenty of high-level grunts trying to slow me down, and they did a good job at it. I needed several electric Pokémon to help recharge my styler. But perhaps the strangest thing of all was that for the whole climb up, we could hear—music?

The peak of the Fiore Temple's pyramid is the highest point in all of Fiore, and the whole place was engulfed in storm clouds. In the furthest corner of the highest platform stood a man playing the largest, most electro-punk organ I had ever seen. Lightning flickered around us as the man played his ominous tune.

"I've heard a lot about you three," the man said without turning around.

"What, from your kids?" Solana said with a smirk. He turned around, looking confused.

"I- what? What are you talking about?"

"Well, there's the family resemblance, you all play music, you're all involved in this evil organization-"

"And Billy did straight-up say 'we have orders from _dad_ ,'" Murph put in. "Also this is the most cliché villain setup I've ever seen-"

"Alright, enough!" the man shouted. "So what if I appreciate this grandiose setup? I happen to like organ music!" I forced down half a smile. When he saw that we were amused by his antics, he straightened up and composed himself. "Well, if you aren't going to take me seriously, I might as well show you what I can do." He turned around and played another ominous tune on the keyboard, but this time working in some other buttons on the device.

With a mighty rumble, three great beings seemingly leapt from the clouds and onto the platform before us. It was the three dogs of legend—Raikou, Suicune, and Entei. They snarled and reared up, but stayed in line. I had heard that these creatures existed, and I had my doubts that a styler could even get through to them, but I never imagined that a jailbroken, prototype super styler that was twisted and manipulated into somehow working through music would somehow be able to control the will of what were essentially gods.

"Now that I have your attention, I'll tell you what my plan is." I would have rolled my eyes, but he had actually gotten my attention with the three legendary Pokémon. "My name is Gordor, and I wish to help the people of Fiore! The ranger system is broken. You rangers can control whoever you want, people or Pokémon, because of the political power you have. No one entity should have that much unchecked power! That's why I'm tearing down the government and reinstating a new one. I'll let these three loose on Fiore to cause destruction and mayhem, and just when all hope is lost in the rangers, my people will save the day with these unfailing super stylers. The rangers will be helpless to stop them, and Fiore will turn to us for leadership."

"THAT- that is, uh… that makes a lot of sense, actually," I responded. Gordor seemed shocked and confused.

"What?"

"I agree. The system is totally broken." Murph and Solana looked at me in surprise, but they were listening. "The whole ranger government needs a massive overhaul. Most of Fiore would agree with you- hell, you could've gotten support from within the union! But do you really think kidnapping and torturing rangers, and turning Pokémon against the civilians will get you the support of the people?" The man was still, mouth hanging open. I had caught him completely off guard, and while that was my intention, I wasn't being untruthful. The ranger system had done nothing but screw me over, and I certainly didn't want this bastard in charge, but we were long overdue for a change in infrastructure.

"Well, uh- you still can't stop me! Soon fire will rain down, and floods will-" but he was cut off by a horrible, discordant noise behind him. During his monologue and my distraction, slowpoke and plusle had snuck around the three legendary Pokémon and to his organ, and were now sitting on the keyboard. Without hesitation, slowpoke was dousing the whole thing in water, and plusle was shocking it to short it out. The three dogs reacted immediately, roaring and bucking and letting out plumes of fire and steam.

The three of us sprang into action. My styler was out, and I was trying to calm down the legendaries. Murph and Solana ran around the battle to try and assist their partner Pokémon. Gordor grabbed plusle and threw it across the platform, and he kicked slowpoke away from the organ. He managed to get in a few chords on the keyboard before Solana came running up to him and clocked him right across the face. While she fought him, Murph picked up plusle and slowpoke and ran back to the organ, and assisted them in destroying the instrument.

I did my best to calm down the three legendary dogs while not simultaneously getting killed by them. Suicune coated the floor with ice, which was melted by Entei, and then evaporated by Raikou. It was impossible to capture all three at once, so I focused on one while I kept an eye on the other two in order to not get killed.

First I tried to get through to Suicune. It would create pillars of ice I had to dodge, cover the ground in mist to limit my sight, and create illusions to confuse me. It was arguably the most difficult capture to start with. The wind from the thunderstorm blew away the mist, and I got friend Pokémon to help keep the ice problem under control. Every time I drew a loop around a Suicune hologram, the illusion would vanish. Before long, I had spotted the real one and was furiously drawing loops around it. After a while of that, it finally seemed to understand that I was not a threat, and it was no longer under control of that instrument. It didn't even look at me when it fled.

Next I attempted to calm Raikou's rampage. Raikou called down lightning bolts from the sky and focused great balls of electricity on the ground. And while I was trying to avoid the traps to draw my loops, Raikou was running around at blinding speed. I could barely get a single loop in, let alone enough to calm it down. I once again got the assistance of a friend Pokémon to hold it in place long enough to draw loops. It was angry and scared when I first immobilized it, but I got through, and it understood that it was free to go.

But before I could turn to Entei, Murph and Solana changed the game. Solana was bruised and bloodied from fighting Gordor, and he seemed to be growing tired as well. While he was separated from his control styler, Murph had managed to do some serious damage. Plusle and Slowpoke had shorted the organ out, making it ineffective, but Murph had been full-body tackling it, slowly teetering the top back and forth. And with one great crash, Murph pushed the organ over, off the ledge and into the ruins below.

The noise made Entei pause. When it looked over to where the organ was supposed to be and saw it gone, it realized that it no longer had to obey its master's commands. So it turned to Gordor, and let out the greatest roar yet. Solana immediately got off of him and ran to Murph's side.

"I am your master! You must listen to me!" he was shouting as the Pokémon approached. He backed up until he was just standing on the edge of the pyramid. Solana and Murph shouted at him to stop, but I was frozen in the face of what was about to happen. Entei had left plumes and walls of flame across the area, so I was unable to get my capture top to Entei to even try and help. I could only try and block out the screams as Entei devoured the man. This was one of those sobering moments for a ranger when you are reminded that Pokémon are not an absolute good—they are not human, and pushed to their absolute limits, are capable of terrible things. But I suppose hubris takes the man who tries to control the gods.

When Entei had finished killing Gordor, it turned to Murph and Solana. Even though they were the ones responsible for freeing it, it was too enraged to see reason. It stalked closer to them, and they pleaded on deaf ears. I redoubled my efforts to draw my capture line, but the fires raged on. Running the perimeter of the pyramid wouldn't get me there in time, so I decided to do the second stupidest thing I had done all day. I knelt down and grabbed one of the temple's crumbling bricks, ran as close to the creature as I could, wound back, and chucked it at Entei.

The brick hit Entei on the back of the head. Due to its massive size, I was confident that I hadn't hurt it, but I did stop its approach to Solana and Murph. It turned to me. I could see the fury in its eyes, and the blood that drenched its face. I was simultaneously glad and sorry for throwing the brick. On one hand, I had saved my friends. On the other, there was no way I was going to stop it from killing me.

Entei let out another roar, summoning more fire to spout from the ground. Flames surrounded me and the beast, trapping us in a ring of fire. I drew loops and loops around it, but they seemed to be failing. Nothing was getting through! I contemplated crossing the fiery border and meeting an incendiary death, or staying to fight and meeting a bloody one. But I chose neither—I returned my capture top to my styler, and re-holstered it.

I looked Entei straight in the eyes. The roar of flames and my friends' screams faded away to silence. I felt as though I was having tunnel vision. In retrospect, I could have felt this way because the fire was burning off all of the oxygen, but it felt like something more. I wasn't certain if I was speaking, or if the words were only in my head.

"Entei," I pleaded. "The danger has passed. You can go back to your life now." It snarled and continued to approach. "Please! I don't mean you any harm!" I put my hands out in front of me and looked away, both to show I was not armed and an instinctual reaction to keep the danger back.

 _I remember you._ I looked to the great creature. It had stopped approaching, and seemed to be thinking hard about something. _You were the one who awoke me and my temple._

"I'm so sorry about that," I blurted out, still terrified. "My friend was being tortured, and it was the only way to save her. Please, forgive me!"

 _Your friends are very important to you, Lunick. You've risked a lot for them._ It didn't even cross my mind to ask how it knew my name.

"I didn't mean to hurt you with that rock, I just wanted you to leave them alone!"

 _I know._

I looked Entei in the eye. Its rage had gone, and instead its eyes looked understanding and knowing.

"Y-you know?"

 _I know many things, Lunick. And I am learning more all the time. You've been through a lot today, haven't you?_ I shivered down to my toes.

"I just want to go home," I replied, tears welling up.

 _Don't worry, I won't kill you._ I sighed in relief. _Why did you put your styler away?_

"I don't know, I wanted you to see that you could trust me, or maybe I thought that if it worked on Pokémon it wouldn't work on a god."

 _But I am a Pokémon, Lunick, not a god. Putting away your styler and just talking to me is what saved you, so what kind of ranger does that make you?_

"I don't know, a bad one, I guess."

 _No. You are a great ranger, Lunick Kazuki. But perhaps it's the ones defining what a ranger is who are wrong._ I looked it in the eye again, and knew that what it was saying was of great importance. _Remember that. There are many trials ahead, but never forget what_ you _are._

With that, the Entei commanded the fiery circle to retreat, let out a last mighty roar, and bounded off along the mountain range. The storm had subsided, and the air was clear and orange in the setting sun. Murph and Solana stared at me silently. What was probably a combination of heat stroke, my adrenaline rush running out, and plain old stress caused me to flop over onto the ground, unconscious.


	12. Renegade Ranger

I woke in a small, dark room, lit only by the light under the door. My eyes were already adjusted to the darkness when I woke up, so I could see Murph sitting in a nearby chair and Solana leaning against the wall. They looked up when I stirred.

"Ugh… What happened?" I groaned, sitting up.

"Well, you threw a rock at a god's face, stared at it for five minutes, and then it ran away and you passed out," Murph said flatly. I chuckled a little bit. I had forgotten how stupid that was.

"Is it over? I mean, those people- did we stop them?"

"Yes. Gordor was their leader, and he's dead. The organization has been disbanded. The danger has passed." I sighed in relief and laid back down on the cot.

"But that's not all," Solana said solemnly. I looked up at her. She sat on the foot of my cot and rubbed my leg. "Lunick, something has happened. Something terrible." My heart beat heavy in my chest. Both she and Murph seemed on the verge of tears. "Spenser is dead."

"What?" I whispered.

"He's dead, Lunick." She was struggling to speak past tears. "It was the cave-in. He didn't make it out in time."

I was almost surprised to feel sad. The man had given me serious self-esteem issues, and I thought I would be happy to see him gone. But perhaps it was my role in the cave-in, and the last thing he had said to me that was affecting me so much.

"And it's not just him," she continued. "A lot of people and Pokémon were inside when the base caved in. The international aid finally showed up, and now they're helping to pull bodies from the rubble."

Every new fact felt like a weight on my chest. Regardless of my involvement, this was a tragedy on the scale of international. It seemed so easy at the time, but we had barely gotten out of that place with our lives.

"They found Percy," Murph said, lip quivering. "They pulled his body out of the rubble. He's dead too." That one felt more like a knife to the heart. I hadn't known Percy long, but he was there through one of the most trying times in my life. I couldn't grasp that I would never see him again. He was braver than either of us, and he was smart and kind, and now he was gone forever. I tucked my knees up to my chin and buried my face in them.

"But that's not all."

I looked up at Murph. His expression was sadder and more serious than I had ever seen. His mouth trembled as he spoke.

"They're blaming you."

Every other thing I had just learned suddenly didn't matter, then mattered more than ever. A wave of icy fear washed over me.

"What?" I asked, even quieter than a whisper.

"I don't know what Spenser told Joel before he… well… but the leaders are in the other room deciding if you should be arrested."

"What?!" I was louder than before. The cold fear was turning to fiery rage. I jumped up from the bed, and Solana and Murph stood to meet me. "No, I- I didn't- They can't do this! I didn't do anything!"

"We know, Lunick, we know, but-"

"No! No, I am sick of this! They can't keep pushing me around like this! I'm done with all of this bullshit!" I rose my styler up over my head, intending to smash it on the ground and denounce the rangers forever. Solana and Murph shielded their faces from any flying debris, but I stopped. My rage subsided slowly. I remembered what Entei had said about staying true to myself, and what Gordor had said about the system being broken. "No… They're the ones who are wrong. I'm a good ranger, they just… they can't see that." I re-holstered my styler and sat back down on the bed, my head in my hands. Solana sat next to me and put her arm across my back.

"We'll testify in your favor, Lunick," Solana assured me.

"It won't help," I replied, my voice strained from tears. "The whole time I've been here, every time I've been blamed for fucking something up, even if Murph was a witness, they just don't care about the truth. They make their own truth." Murph nodded in agreement.

"There's no justice here," he mumbled sadly.

I looked up, determined. If there was no justice here, then maybe I had to just not be here anymore.

"I'm leaving," I said firmly, standing up.

"What?"

I glanced around the room. There was a small window near the ceiling, maybe an arm's length wide. If I had a boost, I might be able to wriggle through. I jumped up on the bed and started to fiddle with the latch.

"But where will you go?" Murph asked, sounding a bit betrayed.

"I don't know. Away from here. Anywhere but here."

"Lunick- No! Get down here!" Solana grabbed my arm and pulled me down from the bed. I was about to get angry at her, until I saw the tears openly running down her face. I sighed.

"Solana, they won't find me innocent. You know that," I said softly.

"But you are! It's not fair!" she wailed. I pulled her into a hug. She cried into my shoulder.

"I know. I don't want to go either. But this is the only way," I said, rubbing her back. She forced herself to stop crying and took a step back to look at me.

"Just… J-just be careful," she whimpered, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I will." I turned to Murph. He seemed just as upset.

"I'll fight for you," he said, showing anger under his tears. "They'll know the truth. I'll make them believe."

"I know you will." I hugged him too, perhaps even firmer than Solana. He was my best friend, and this would be the first time we would be apart for any long period of time.

I released him, and climbed back up onto the bed. The window swung in, and I needed a boost to even get up, but I knew my friends would always have my back. It was a tight squeeze, but I finally pulled my legs through and tumbled to the ground below.

"Be careful," Solana whispered again through the window. I waved quietly back at them, and took off into the woods under the cover of night.

Murph and Solana didn't speak to each other while they waited. It was about an hour before the three leaders returned to the small, dark room. Elita noticed instantly that something was missing.

"Where's Lunick?" was the first thing she said.

"Gone," Murph said flatly, not even looking at her.

"What?"

"He ran off. He crawled out that window and ran away about an hour ago."

"He did WHAT?" Joel roared. Everyone fell silent and looked at him. This was Joel, the cool, collected leader of Fall City, and he had just raised his voice. His expression was that of rage—a very uncommon occurrence, and his fists were clenched tight.

"Joel, calm down," Cameron said calmly.

"NO! No, he… that _monster_ can't be allowed to run free! Do you know how many people are dead because of _him_?!" Joel screamed, backing away from Cameron.

"But he didn't do it! He-" Solana tried to put in.

"I'm not letting him get away!" Joel turned and ran down the hallway towards the lobby. All of them, Murph and Solana included, ran after him. Joel grabbed a go bag from the closet and was sifting through a box in the lobby when the other four got there. Other rangers in the lobby had heard the shouting from down the hall and had backed away silently.

"Joel, get away from that!" Elita shouted. When Joel stood to face her, everyone could see that he was holding a confiscated super styler. "That's evidence, and illegal contraband, you can't just-"

"That boy murdered my best friend!" Joel roared. "I am the leader of this administration, and I will take whatever means necessary to bring him to justice! We aren't safe with him out there!" Elita and Cameron followed him as he stormed out the door, begging him to listen to reason. But he was on a warpath, and he mounted his dodrio without glancing back.

"You can't do this! Lunick's not the one who's responsible!" Solana cried, standing in front of the dodrio. Murph stood beside her.

"Please! He would never-" Murph put in, but Joel cut him off.

"You two aren't completely absolved of guilt either!" he shouted at them. "You helped Lunick escape! And when I drag him back here, you'd better be ready to stand trial too!" And with that, he jabbed his heel into the dodrio's side, and together they ran off into the woods.

All four were speechless. Solana trembled with fear and anger, her hand clamped over her mouth. Elita saw her shaking and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, you're not in trouble," Elita whispered comfortingly, "but you shouldn't have just let him leave."

"No! No, you listen!" Solana shouted, tearing away from Elita and turning to face her. "Lunick worked his ass off every day to try and prove that he was a good ranger, and Spenser, and all of you, just wrote him off! I've only been here for a few weeks, and he's saved my life multiple times! He's the one who got all of the prisoners out of that cell, and he's the one who put a stop to that organization's plans! He could have been the best of the best, but you all just blamed him for everything! If that's what being a ranger is, then-" she took her styler out of her holster, "then I don't want this anymore!" She smashed it on the ground, and the pieces broke apart. Antenna snapped, screen shattered, and capture top split in two. She tried to go on, but her words were overwhelmed with sobs. Elita took her gently by the shoulders and guided her back into the base.

Cameron leaned back against the wall in exasperation. He pushed his hair back and looked at Murph. Murph, who was always so happy and goofy, now stared at the ground sadly, unsure of what to say.

"And what do you want to do?" Cameron asked him. Murph looked up. He started to speak, but paused. He contemplated what he was going to say.

"I… I think I do want to stay in the ranger program, but I can't stay here. I'm going to need a transfer, preferably to Almia."


End file.
